Life Goes On: Raising Kids Is hard To Do
by Lissical
Summary: 4B in the Life Goes On series. This story comes nearly right where ABMS left off. Better summary inside! FINAL CHAPTER UP!
1. Prologue

**Title: Raising Kids is Hard to Do**

**Author: Lisa (Lissical)**

**Summary: Sequel to "And Baby Makes Six." Okay this is an ACTUAL sequel to that story. "New Beginnings" was what I like to call a 'side story' or an alternate universe story. I was 'testing the waters' with my dramatic writing, LOL.**

**Anyway, this one will focus back on Troy and Sharpay (and the kids of course!).**

**Disclaimer: I only own the people I made up; everything else belongs to Disney.**

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_**Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 1: Prologue**_

All right, this isn't an actual chapter; it's more of an explanation as to how this story fits in with my other stories. So far, in my series, I have:

Changes

The Additions

And Baby Makes Six

(New Beginnings)

Now why you may ask, is New Beginnings in parentheses? Well, that is because that story is not an actual sequel. It was more of a thing I wanted to do; I just wanted to see what I could do with drama…ugh, I don't like THAT much drama, LOL! Anyway, consider that story as a 'side story.'

So this story is taking place 2 weeks after And Baby Makes Six ends. I'm going to say that even though they're not going to be in it much, Ryan and Gabi aren't divorced; Theresa was never hurt, blah, blah, blah. In other words, they had a fight, separated for a while, and are back together again. Confused yet? Don't worry, I am too! ;-)

Oh! Ages of the kids: Larissa (5), Ana (2 ½), Zachary and Kayleigh (13 months)

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It was the last months of preschool for Larissa. She had been getting several anxiety attacks about kindergarten, which she would be attending in the fall. Her ex-teacher, Miss Alison was the assistant kindergarten teacher and Larissa was not at all pleased with this. Yet instead of talking about it to her parents, she displayed her anxiety in ways that was not acceptable behavior for Troy and Sharpay.

"Larissa, get down here now," Sharpay called to her daughter from the stairs.

Larissa slowly descended down the stairs, "What?"

"Don't 'what' me young lady," she said as she took her hand and led her to the kitchen where Ana was sitting in a chair, crying. "So Ana's bear is missing," she said. "She says that you took it from her. Care to explain?"

Larissa didn't say anything for a moment. "I don't know…it was annoying so I got rid of it."

"What do you mean you got rid of it?"

She shrugged, "I put it somewhere where Ana wouldn't find it." She looked up at her mom who was trying to control her anger.

"And um, where exactly did you put it," she asked, crossing her arms.

"Garbage can," she muttered.

Sharpay turned around for about 10 seconds and then turned back to Larissa, "I am giving you 3 minutes to go and get her bear and come back down here…go get her bear!" She yelled.

"But…"

"If you don't want to have another privilege taken away from you, I highly suggest you get the bear."

Larissa ran off and went upstairs to the bathroom where she had stuffed the bear in the garbage. She looked at it, "Stupid bear; this is all your fault." She walked back downstairs, "Here's the stupid bear," she said, handing it to her mom.

"Thank you," she said, handing it to Ana who immediately stopped crying when she had the bear back in her hands. "Now go upstairs please," she said.

"But I don't want to!"

Before Sharpay could tell her to go, Troy walked through the door. "Good afternoon," he greeted his family. He then saw Sharpay's facial expression and Larissa's expression. "Okay, what did I miss?"

"Larissa decided to take Ana's bear and throw it away," Sharpay said.

Troy looked at his daughter, "And why did you do that?"

She didn't answer. She simply stomped up to her room and shut the door.

"Well at least she didn't…" SLAM! "…Slam it," Troy said. He sighed, "I'll take care of this one."

Sharpay nodded, "Thanks…you're the only one who can get through to her," she said sadly, wishing she could get through to her daughter as well.

He gave her a reassuring kiss, "Don't worry, when she starts going through puberty, she'll hate me and turn to you for everything," he said, earning a smack on the arm. "Okay, I deserved that," he said before heading upstairs. He walked up the stairs and poked his head into the twins' room, surprised that Larissa's door slam hadn't awakened them from their nap. He then proceeded down the hall to Larissa's room. He opened the door and walked in. "Hi there."

Larissa turned to him, "Go away." She turned back to the wall.

He sat down on the bed, "Larissa, I know you're scared, but you have got to stop doing the wrong thing," he said, turning her so that she was facing him.

"I'm not scared," she said.

"Well whatever you are, you have got to start talking about it and stop acting upon it," he said, growing impatient.

"Whatever," she murmured.

Troy sighed. This was going to be a long rest of the spring and an even longer summer.

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**Okay, so that is the start! That's what is wrong with Larissa. So do you think she'll keep acting like this and giving her parents headaches, LOL? Please send in a review. I forgot how much I loved writing about these guys.:) Thanks for reading!**


	2. Orientation

**Okay I came up with something; maybe this is okay…please review and tell me what you think!**

**Disclaimer: Same as always**

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_**Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 2**_

Things were still rather rocky at home as Larissa was getting more nervous about preschool ending and elementary school starting. Troy and Sharpay thought that an orientation would help calm her nerves; she would get to meet her teacher (the actual teacher, since Alison was just the assistant), look around both the classroom and the school, and get to meet some of her classmates-to-be.

"Come on sweetie, we need to get going," Troy called as he walked into Larissa's room. She was sitting on her bed, dressed, but her shoes were on the floor. "Come on sweetie," he said as he walked over to her.

"I don't want to go," she said, looking down at the floor. "What if mean Miss Alison is there," she asked, looking up at Troy.

He sighed, "Even if she is, just remember that she isn't going to be your main teacher and you are going to make so many friends there that you won't have time to worry about her. So get your shoes on and let's get going," he said with a smile.

She nodded, "Okay; but what if you're wrong?"

"I'm not," he said with a wink. "Come on, you're going to love it there," he said as he picked up her shoes and handed them to her.

She looked at them, "These are tie shoes. I can't tie my shoes yet!" She started to cry.

Sharpay walked into the room with Zachary in her arms. Kayleigh was in the playpen downstairs. "What is going on in here? Larissa we need to get going."

"But I can't tie my shoes yet!" She yelled.

Troy looked at her, "Come on, you get the shoes on and I'll tie them, all right? We'll work on learning how to tie them some other time," he said as he gave Larissa a hopeful look. He then looked at Sharpay who nodded.

"Yeah, we'll learn how to tie shoes later," she said. "Just let daddy tie them right now."

Larissa nodded, "Okay," she said, knowing that she wasn't going to win this battle.

Troy watched as Larissa slipped the shoes on. He then tied each one, saying some sort of rhyme along with it:

"Build a tee pee  
Come inside  
Close it tight so we can hide  
Over the mountain  
And around we go  
Here's my arrow  
And here's my bow!"

Larissa gave her dad a rather weird look, "What was that?"

"A shoe tying rhyme," he said with a smile. "Now every time you tie your shoes…when you learn that is, you can recite this rhyme along with it."

Sharpay smiled, "Wow, that is the same rhyme I would say when I was learning how to tie my shoes; the same went for Ryan."

Larissa looked up at her, "Really?"

"Yes, really. Now let's go; daddy can teach you the rhyme later," she said.

Troy nodded, "Yeah I'll teach you after we get home or tomorrow…whenever we have time," he said, taking Larissa's hand and leading her down the stairs. He picked up Kayleigh from her playpen. "Ana, time to go," he said to the little girl who was watching a TV show.

She turned around, "Okay daddy," she said quietly.

Sharpay sighed, "Troy what are we going to do about her speech? I can barely ever hear her."

He shook his head, "Let's just worry about one thing at a time," he said as the six of them made their way out to the car. After about 5 minutes of strapping each child into their car seat, they were ready to go. Troy drove to Red Oak Elementary School **(A/N: Probably not a school in NM, but I went to this elementary school in IL, so that's the school I'm using. :)) **where Larissa would be attending in the fall. He found a parking spot and went around to the back and took the double stroller out of the trunk. Sharpay then placed Kayleigh and Zachary in it and got Larissa and Ana out of the car.

"I think we have everything," she said as she slid the van door shut.

"Let's go then," Troy said. He noticed Larissa was still just standing there. "Honey, we need to go inside, come on."

She just stared at the school and then to the side of the school, a small smile forming on her face. "Daddy, look!" She pointed to a playground that was next to the school. "Will I get to play on _that_?"

He smiled, "I'm sure you will; but not yet…we still need to go inside first."

She nodded and took his free hand (he was carrying Ana and Sharpay was pushing the stroller). "Okay."

Troy smiled at Sharpay, "This could be a good thing," he whispered.

She smiled, "I sure hope so."

When they got inside, they saw several other families as well; each family had at least one child who was Larissa's age. "Who are these people," Larissa asked nervously.

They walked over to a table that had name tags on it. "These," he said as he picked up name tags for each of them, "Are your future classmates…the kids are anyway."

She nodded, "Which one is my teacher?"

Sharpay looked around, "I'm not sure; maybe she's in the classroom," she said, pointing to a warm looking room.

Larissa slowly walked towards the room, as if in slow motion. When she got to the door, her jaw dropped. "This…is…my…room?" She looked around and saw at least three tables with chairs, a rug in the front of the room, a couple of shelves that had books on them, a play area, and the alphabet across the wall near the ceiling. There was a woman sitting at a desk in the back of the room, greeting families.

Troy smiled, "Yes, this is going to be your room. And I'm guessing that this," he said as they walked over to her, "Is going to be your teacher."

Larissa held tightly on to her dad's hand as they made their way to the woman sitting in the desk.

The woman just finished talking to another family with a little girl. She looked up and saw Larissa and her family. She smiled at Larissa, "Well hello there," she said with a smile.

Larissa just stood there, not knowing whether to smile or run away.

Troy, seeing her face, looked over at the woman, "Hi, I'm Troy, this is my wife Sharpay and this is our daughter, Larissa," he said gesturing to the little girl gripping his hand.

The woman nodded, "It's very nice to meet you, Larissa. I'm Mrs. Johnson; I'm going to be your teacher this year."

Larissa just looked at her, wondering if she could trust her or not. "Hi," she said quietly.

"It's very nice to meet you," Sharpay said as she shook Mrs. Johnson's hand.

"And you as well." She looked at Larissa's siblings, "I am guessing that these are your sisters and brother?"

Larissa nodded, not wanting to say anything. What if she turned out to be just like Alison? What if she was worse?

Troy, sensing Larissa's anxiety, spoke up, "Well I think we're just going to do some looking around the room right now."

She nodded, "Okay; and if you have any questions, please feel free to come on over here and ask," she said with a smile.

"Thank you," Sharpay said as they walked over to another part of the room. "Well she seems very nice," she said to Larissa.

She shrugged, "I guess, but I still don't…" She bumped into someone as she was walking. She looked up to see who it was and gripped Troy's hand even tighter.

The woman looked at Larissa, "Hello, Larissa," she said with an icy smile.

Larissa didn't say anything.

Troy eyed the woman, "Hello…Alison," he said.

She smiled, "Wow I can't believe that Larissa is in this class," she said, pretending that nothing had happened at the beginning of the school year.

Sharpay looked over at Larissa, who was frozen with fear that Alison was going to do something to her. "Well, it was…nice running into you again, but we're just going to look around the room," she said, not knowing if Alison had changed or not.

After hearing this, Larissa let go of Troy's hand and ran out into the hall.

Troy set Ana down next to Sharpay, "I'll be right back with her."

She nodded, "All right." She then turned back to Alison, "She's just a little nervous about being in kindergarten…and having you in this class," she said, not afraid to speak her mind.

"I see," she said. "Well I should go greet some of the other families," she said as she walked away.

Sharpay rolled her eyes and walked out into the hall with Ana in tow (she was still pushing the stroller) to look for Larissa and Troy.

"Larissa," Troy said, finding her near the drinking fountain, "Why did you do that?"

"I hate her!" She started to run off again, but Troy caught her and picked her up. "I know you don't like her, but what have your mom and I always said about using the word 'hate?'"

She shrugged, "I know, don't say it."

"Exactly."

"But I hate…don't like her at all! She was so mean to me, daddy!" She buried he face in Troy's shoulder.

Sharpay walked up to them, "Let me guess; she's not at all happy that you-know-who is going to be in her class."

"That's exactly the case," he said as he rubbed her back, trying to calm Larissa down.

Sharpay sighed, "Why, of all the schools, let alone classrooms, did she have to be here?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, but maybe she has changed."

Larissa looked at Troy as if he were nuts, "No she hasn't! I could see it in her face. She still hates me!"

"Larissa," he said in a warning tone.

"Fine, she doesn't like me!"

"Look, why don't we try going back into the room and this time we'll look around at what there is, okay," Sharpay suggested.

Larissa didn't say anything for a moment, "Okay," she said quietly.

"Good. Come on honey," Sharpay said as Troy let her down. Sharpay took her hand and walked back into the room.

Larissa made sure to walk in the other direction so she wouldn't have to see Alison. She walked over to the big carpet that was in the front of the room. "What's this," she asked her parents.

Troy looked at a small decorated sign that was next to the rug. "It's the story rug. I'm guessing that whenever you have story time or show-and-tell, you all sit over here and your teacher reads a book."

Larissa nodded, "Do you think she'll ever read 'The Giving Tree?'" **(Only my favorite book from when I was a kid!)**

Sharpay smiled, "I'm sure she will," she said, eyeing the story on one of the book shelves. "She'll probably read a lot of books that you love."

Larissa smiled for the first time since they had entered the room. "What are those," she asked, pointing to some notebooks.

"Those are for your writing," Mrs. Johnson said from behind Larissa, causing her to jump a mile in the air. "Sorry about that," she said, suppressing a giggle.

Larissa turned around, "What do you mean for my writing? I don't write."

"Not yet, but when we do start to write, that is what you will be writing in; you will get to take it home everyday and show it to your mom and dad and then they will help you work on your writing," she said with a smile.

Larissa nodded, "Oh."

"Sorry, she's a bit overwhelmed by everything," Sharpay supplied.

Mrs. Johnson shook her head, "Don't worry about it, a lot of the children are." She paused, "Speaking of children, would you like to meet some of the kids you'll be in class with, Larissa?"

She shook her head, "Not yet."

Troy looked at Larissa, "How about if I come with you?"

Larissa nodded, "Okay."

He smiled, "Great." He turned to Mrs. Johnson, "Thank you, Mrs. Johnson."

She shook her head, "No problem, and please, call me Sherri."

He nodded and thank her again and then walked over to the play area with Larissa where a few other children were. "Well? Why don't you ask if you can join in?"

She stood back, "I don't want to. They won't like me."

He sighed, "Larissa…" He then decided that it wasn't worth arguing over. She would meet these kids again in the fall anyway. "Okay…are you ready to leave then?" He had noticed that Kayleigh was beginning to get fussy and do her usual 'I'm tired' routine.

"Yes, I want to leave." She started to walk to the door but remembered that she would probably get into trouble if she left without her parents, so she waited for them.

"Thank you," Sharpay said to her as they walked over to where Larissa was waiting.

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"So I think that went pretty well," Troy said as he and Sharpay walked out of the twins' room after putting them down for a nap.

"All things considered, I think you're right," she said with a small smile. "I just hope that things go well during the actual school year." She looked over at Troy nervously. Would things go well for Larissa in September?

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**Okay, so that was it! I hope you liked it. What did you think of Mrs. Johnson? And what about Alison; do you think she will be any better? Please send your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, anything to me! I love reading your reviews. As always, thank you for reading!**


	3. Game Time!

**I would like to thank Crimson Tide Elephant for giving me the idea for this chapter. Thanks! I hope you all like it.**

**Disclaimer: Same as always!**

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A/N: Remember that I had said in chapter 1 that Ryan and Gabi are still married. Just wanted to remind you in case anyone forgot:-)**

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_**Raising Kids Is Hard to Do, Ch. 3**_

It was now May, which meant the end of preschool for Larissa and the end of another school year for Sharpay. Troy had received an invitation in the mail the other day to go see Chad play in the NBA finals game against the Miami Heat and he wasn't about to turn it down, but when he told Sharpay about it, she wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of him leaving her for three days with four children.

"Would that work," Troy asked, still on the phone. "You did! Chad I have got to tell you that is awesome," he said a smile on his face. "I'm going to go tell her right now…okay I will…bye!" He hung up the phone and hurried downstairs to the kitchen where Sharpay was preparing dinner. He snuck up behind her and put his hand over her eyes, "Guess who."

She sighed, "I'm still not letting you go so you can quit kissing up to me," she said flatly.

He put his hands down, "Ah, but that is where you're wrong," he said, the smile still plastered to his face.

She turned around, "Okay, how am I wrong? Are you still planning on going to LA?"

"Yes."

"Are you still planning on watching Chad play in the NBA finals?"

"Yes."

"Then I really don't see where I'm wrong," she said as she brought the placemats to the table.

"Well, it's not that you're really wrong, it's that you're missing a huge detail that I didn't know was included in this little vacation," he said, following her to the table with the plates.

She looked up at him, "And what detail might that be?"

"That you and the kids are all invited to go as well."

"Troy I hate to break it to you, but as you probably already know, I'm not that much of a basketball fan. I'm still with Gabi, Taylor, and Kelsi when they called you, Chad, and Jason 'lunkhead basketball men.'"

He rolled his eyes, "Shar, I didn't get to finish…and I am not a lunkhead basketball man!"

She sighed, "Okay, finish then."

"Thank you; Chad told me that not only are we invited, but so are Ryan, Gabi, Michael and Theresa and Kelsi, Jason, and Katie." He smiled, hoping she'd change her mind.

"Okay and how will that change my mind?"

Jeez, did she have ESP or something? He sighed, "Honey, Chad said that we're all invited…I really think we should consider going. I mean, the kids are all old enough to travel and we don't even have to fly…" He looked at her face which seemed to read, 'no way are we driving.' "Okay so we do, but you'll have Kelsi and Gabi…and Taylor will be there too, considering the fact that she lives there. So what do you think?" He put his lower lip out. "Please?"

She tried not to laugh as she looked at his face, "You are picking up too much from your daughters."

"Is it working?"

She sighed, "Well it _has _been an awfully long time since we all went on a vacation together…"

"Is that a yes," he asked hopefully.

She nodded, "Okay I guess we can go."

He hugged her, "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Sharpay I'm telling you right now, you are not going to regret this!"

"I hope I don't, 'cause if anything goes wrong, I'm blaming you," she said with a serious look on her face.

"Fine, blame me," he said, too excited to really know what he just said. "But believe me; you're going to love it." He kissed her head and hurried into the den to call Chad to tell him that they were coming.

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**Friday: Departure Day…**

"All right, so do we have everything," Sharpay asked as she climbed into the passenger side of the car.

Troy looked at the little checklist, something Sharpay had made him do, "Let's see, luggage: check; gifts for James and Jessica **(Chad's kids)**: check; our children…" He looked behind him, "Larissa, Ana, Zac…oops…"

Sharpay looked behind her as well. "Troy! You…you dummy!" Sharpay ran into the house and picked up Zachary and Kayleigh from their room where they were playing quietly and brought them out to the car and strapped them into their car seats. She got back into the car, "I'm not so sure about this," she said with a frown.

"It was an honest mistake. They were just being so quiet that…"

She put her hand in his face to stop him, "Just go already."

"Okay." He started the car and drove to the airport.

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Their plane was large one; there were 3 seats on each side, which meant Troy and two of the kids would sit on one side of the plane and Sharpay and the other two kids would sit on the other. Larissa and Zachary sat with Troy and Ana and Kayleigh sat with Sharpay. The twins surprisingly fit into the seat…sort of. The flight attendant had told them that they could hold the kids after they took off.

Kelsi, Jason, and Katie were next to get on the plane. They were sitting one row behind Troy, Larissa, and Zachary. Ryan and Gabi had a slight problem: there were four of them and only three seats on each side. Ryan had decided to be the 'odd one out' and sit across from his family, one row in front of Troy and Sharpay.

After everyone was settled, the flight attendant did the demonstrations of how to buckle the seatbelts, what to do if the oxygen masks had to be dropped down, and how their seats could also be used as flotation devices in case they landed on the water. **(Can you tell that I have flown a lot in my life? ;-))** Thankfully none of the kids were really listening; if they were, there would be a lot of crying from being completely freaked out about crashing.

Once in the air, Troy picked Zachary up and held him in his lap as the little boy slept in his arms and Kayleigh was finally able (she had a little case of air sickness) to sleep in Sharpay's arms, plenty of airsick bags near her just in case. Other than that the flight went relatively smooth. Larissa had brought her favorite coloring book and was occupied with that; Ana was playing with her bear and had a little coloring book as well.

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**Los Angels International Airport…**

"Finally," Sharpay said as she got off the plane.

"The flight wasn't that bad," Troy said, not far behind her.

"Mommy Kayleigh looks like she's going to be sick again," Larissa said.

Sharpay looked at Kayleigh who was looking a bit green again. "Oh great." She ran to the bathroom which was thankfully across from the gate. She emerged a few minutes later with a crying Kayleigh. "Okay, I don't know if I'm going to be able to go to that game tonight," she said, coming back to the group.

"Honey it's probably just airsickness. Don't you remember when we had to drive to Arizona for that restaurant thing and she got sick at least four times? She obviously doesn't tolerate driving and flying very well. I'm sure that after a nap, she'll be just fine." He looked at Kayleigh, "You'll be fine, won't you," he asked her with a smile.

Kayleigh just looked at him and laid her head on Sharpay's chest. Her usual smile wasn't there.

He groaned, "Traitor," he said with a wink. Zachary smiled at his sister and reached out for her. Troy saw this and moved closer to Sharpay and let Zachary hug (or try to hug) his little sister. Right as he did, Kayleigh smiled.

"That is so sweet," Gabi said, becoming emotional.

Sharpay smiled, "Yeah, anytime one of them is sad, the other one just crawls…walks over to the other and hugs them and then two seconds later, they're fine." She looked at a now smiling Kayleigh.

"Okay so can we go to the hotel now," Kelsi asked, holding her stomach. "I'm not feeling very well either."

Jason looked at her, "What's wrong?"

"I think I just have some leftover airsickness," she said, rushing to the bathroom.

Jason watched as she ran to the bathroom, "That is the fourth time this week," he muttered to himself.

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**Hotel…**

When they arrived at the hotel, they saw two very familiar faces, with two very familiar looking children waiting for them.

"Chad!" Troy hurried over to his best friend and hugged him. It had been over a year since he had seen him and Taylor.

"Hey Troy, I'm really glad you guys could make it," he said, returning the hug.

After everyone finished greeting each other, they went into the hotel, set their things in their rooms, and came back downstairs.

"So what do we do now," Ryan asked as he set Michael down.

"How about heading for the arena, since the game starts in a few hours," Taylor suggested. When she received looks of 'what the heck are we going to do there,' she smiled, "Don't worry, there's plenty to do there. The kids love it and Jessica hates basketball; but she loves going to the arena." She smiled.

Sharpay nodded, "I guess we can do that. I mean, I'm a little too tired to go sightseeing right now…we'll do that tomorrow, so yeah, let's go." She looked at Troy, "That sound okay to you?"

"Yeah, sounds like a great idea, Taylor," he said with a smile.

"Excellent. Well Chad isn't going to be with us, since he has to practice, so I'll just show you where we can go," she said.

"Sounds good," Kelsi said, holding her stomach again. "Ugh, excuse me." She ran to the bathroom again.

"Is she all right," Taylor asked as she looked over at Kelsi.

Jason shrugged, "She said something about airsickness, but I'm wondering if she caught that flu that is going around. I asked her if she wanted to stay home, but she refused to, saying that she would just buy out the entire upset stomach medicine section at the pharmacy."

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**The Game…**

"And LA Laker captain Chad Danforth makes another 3-pointer," the announcer said as the buzzer for the end of the 3 quarter of the game sounded.

"Man, I knew Chad was good, but I didn't know he was _that _good," Sharpay said amazed. She had seen him play in high school, but never professionally.

Taylor smiled, "Oh trust me, he's had his bad days. There was this one game where he had some sort of bug and just couldn't concentrate at all. It was not a pretty sight."

Troy laughed, "Hey Jason remember that one time when we had a game and Chad was about to make a basket when he tripped over his shoelaces," he said, smiling at the memory.

"How can I forget? Your dad yelled at him for about a week after it happened, telling him that if he didn't start tying his shoes tighter that he was going to make him take a class on shoe-tying," he said laughing.

"Daddy, what's that," Larissa asked from Troy's lap.

"That is the scoreboard, honey. It tells us how many points each team has," he explained.

"How much does uncle Chad's team have?"

Troy looked at the board, "60 points; the other team has 42 points," he said.

"That makes no sense," Theresa exclaimed.

"What doesn't," Gabi asked her daughter who was sitting next to her.

"How can a team from Miami be here? Shouldn't they be in Florida," she asked, confused.

Gabi laughed, "Honey they took an airplane here, just like we did."

"Oh, okay. Why didn't you say so before?" She shook her head and looked back at the court.

Ryan laughed, "That's my girl," he said aside to Troy.

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**After the game…**

"There he is!" Taylor yelled as she ran to her husband. "I can't believe you scored at the buzzer…again! That had to be the…I don't know 100th time you did that," she said as she kissed him.

He smiled, "Hey, I try." He walked over to everyone else, "So, how did you like it?"

"You did a good job uncle Chad," Katie said, smiling from Jason's arms.

"Why thank you," he said as he kissed her forehead.

The guys decided to go out and catch up so the girls (and kids) decided to go back to the hotel.

"Mommy, can we get a swimming pool like Jessica," Larissa asked Sharpay.

Sharpay laughed, "No honey, we can't afford that; besides, it's not safe to have one with two 15 month olds running around."

Taylor nodded, "Your mom's right; we didn't get that until after Jessica was 3. Even then I was scared that she or James would wander out there."

"Ha, ha we have a nicer house than you," Jessica said in a sing-song voice.

"Jessica Lilly Danforth!" Taylor said harshly. "Come here right now." She looked over at Larissa and kneeled down, "I think your house is beautiful," she said quietly, making Larissa smile. Taylor took Jessica's hand and led her to a separate are of the room they were in.

James shook his head, "She does that a lot," the 8 year old said. "And then mom always gets really mad at her because she always makes someone cry."

Sharpay suppressed a laugh. This was one very intelligent 8 year old. He had to have gotten it from his mom.

"We're back," Troy said.

"Just in time too," Sharpay said as she walked over to him.

"Just in time for what," he asked.

"Bed; you said you wanted to see most of the city tomorrow and I figured that we would need ample time for sleep."

He nodded, "True. So are you guys coming tomorrow too," he asked Jason and Ryan.

Ryan nodded, "Yeah, why not; it should be fun."

Kelsi walked up to them, "You guys can go, but I think I'm going to stay here," she said, looking green again.

Sharpay looked at her, "Are you sure you're all right? You got sick at least two times during the game."

She nodded, "I'm fine; it's nothing some sleep can't cure."

* * *

After sightseeing for the day, it was time to head back to the hotel to pack. Chad and Taylor hugged everyone goodbye. "You all have to come back soon, got it," Chad said as he hugged Sharpay.

"We will, I promise," she said. She then turned to Troy. "Let's go," she said, holding a sleeping Ana.

He nodded, "Okay."

In the elevator, Sharpay turned to Troy, "This was a great idea; getting away from everything for a few days."

"I told you it was a good idea," he said as he kissed her. He knew that Larissa wouldn't interject with an 'eww' since she was in Troy's arms, sleeping.

* * *

**So I hope you all liked that! I figured they needed a rest from everyday life. So what's up with Kelsi? Please send in your thoughts, suggestions, ideas, etc… I value all of them! And thank you for reading. :-)**


	4. Surprise!

**Per many of your requests, I am going to give Troy and Sharpay some 'alone time.' Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

**_Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 4_ **

* * *

**Two Days Later…**

It had been a full 24 hours since Troy, Sharpay, and the kids had gotten home from LA. They had gone sightseeing and bought some great souvenirs, especially for the girls. Larissa got a t-shirt, as did Ana. Sharpay got the twins some hats that were just a little too big for their little heads, but they were still adorable.

Even though they had just gotten t-shirts, Troy's mom insisted on buying some new clothes for Larissa and Ana so she took the two girls for the day to do some shopping and just general hanging out with grandma. Cindy (Troy's mom) knew how much Troy and Sharpay wanted to be alone for at least a few hours, so she figured this was the perfect opportunity. Sharpay's father volunteered to take the twins for the day, which Troy and Sharpay gladly said yes to.

"Something's different," Sharpay said as she and Troy walked back into the house after helping her dad get the twins into his car.

"What's that," he asked.

"It is just so…quiet!" She turned to face him and smiled, "So Mr. Bolton, we have the entire house to ourselves for an entire day. What shall we do?"

He smiled, "Well I don't know, Mrs. Bolton. I was thinking about this…" He said as he kissed her passionately.

As they pulled away (after about 2 minutes), Sharpay smiled, "I like that idea," she said softly. She moved in to kiss him again.

After they parted, Sharpay rested her head on Troy's chest and sighed, "Did you have anything else in mind?"

He put his hands on her shoulder so she was now looking at him, "I did actually. It's a gorgeous day outside and it's not too hot, but not too cold…it's just right for…" He led her into the kitchen and took something out of the refrigerator.

Sharpay's smiled widened, "A picnic! Yes, yes, yes Troy! How did you know?"

He just smiled, "Well I remember when you bought this picnic basket; it was right after the twins were born. You said something about hoping that we'd actually be able to use it someday…well that someday is here."

She nodded, "Where are we going?"

He smiled slyly and took a bandana out from the basket. "That is for me to know and you to find out," he said as he tied the bandana around her eyes.

"Troy, please just tell me where we're going," she begged.

He chuckled, "Nope, you'll just have to find out when we get there." He took her hand and led her out to the car.

After 10 minutes of driving in silence, Sharpay could feel the car come to a stop. "Are we there, or is it another light," she asked.

He smiled and didn't say anything; he simply turned the car off, got out, and opened her door. "We're here, but you can't take the blindfold off yet," he said as he helped her out of the car. He opened the back door and took the picnic basket out and led Sharpay somewhere. After walking for a few minutes, they stopped. "Okay, you can take it off now."

She did as she was told and took off the blindfold. As soon as she did, she saw that they were in a park; not just any park, however. "Troy," she gasped, "This is the park that you proposed to me…and this is the spot where you did it," she said, putting her hand to her mouth.

"Do you like it," he asked with a smile, knowing the answer.

She shook her head, "No…I love it!" She wrapped her arms around him. "This is the best surprise you have given me," she said with a smile.

"Oh but the surprise is not done yet," he said with a grin.

She gave him a confused look, "How can there be more? You've already given me the thing that I have hoped for since we had the twins."

"Sorry, but that part of the surprise is going to have to wait for a little while," he said. "For now, let's set the blanket down and have some lunch."

She nodded and helped him unpack the lunch. "Troy did you do this by yourself? It looks like it was done professionally," she said as she examined the containers and very well wrapped dishes of food.

He shook his head, "Nope, I actually did something all by myself." He looked at Sharpay's 'I don't believe you' face. "Okay, I confess; I had a little bit of help from my mom. When she was here this morning, she helped me put this together…you were upstairs getting Kayleigh changed after she spilled her breakfast, remember?"

"Well if anyone knows how to pack something, it's your mom," she said smiling.

After lunch, the two just sat there, watching what was going on around them. There were some kids off in the distance playing with a ball, a couple who clearly did not want to be interrupted, and some ducks in the pond that was near them. Troy turned his attention from his surroundings and pulled Sharpay into a kiss. They were now completely oblivious to what was going on around them.

They parted after a few minutes. "So are you ready for the second part of the surprise," he asked softly.

She nodded, "Yes; I've been ready for a while now," she said as she kissed him once more.

He reached into the basket, fumbled around for a minute and finally pulled out a small box. "Here it is," he said, showing her the box.

Sharpay was stunned. "Troy what…"

He put his finger on her lip, cutting her off. He then opened the little box slowly and showed her the diamond ring that was inside of it. He took the ring out and placed it on Sharpay's finger. "Sharpay, would you do me the honor of marrying me…again?"

She couldn't seem to find words to describe her answer. All she could do was nod. "Y-Yes," she finally managed, "Yes Troy I'll marry you … again." She smiled as she looked at the ring. It wasn't a very large ring, but it was good enough for her.

He smiled, "Thank you." He leaned in to kiss her again. "Thank you for making this the best day I have had in a long time," he said in a whisper.

She wrapped her arms around him and placed her head on his shoulder. "So when did you want to do this," she asked, hoping she wasn't breaking the mood.

"I was thinking next weekend," he said quietly.

She looked at him, "Next weekend? But Troy, that isn't enough time to plan anything…" She smiled and nodded, "Oh I see where you're going with this; you want a small family gathering, am I right?"

He nodded, "Indeed you are. I just figured that we didn't need to have another large wedding, like the last one…even though it was the best wedding of my life; I just think a small intimate gathering of family would do just fine for this; besides the girls are always asking what a wedding is like."

She nodded in agreement, "Yeah I remember when Larissa was looking at that picture of us kissing for the camera," she said, smiling at the memory. "She thought it was so gross."

"And then she went to the next page and saw us actually smiling for the camera and wanted to go to our wedding," he said with a chuckle. "I had to tell her that we couldn't go back in time; she was so mad…and sad."

"Well, now she'll be able to experience one," she said, admiring the ring that was on her ring finger of her right hand, since there was already a ring on her left ring finger.

He nodded and moved in to kiss her again. Just as they pulled apart, they noticed that the sun was starting to hide behind some clouds. "We should probably pack up," he said, noticing the menacing clouds that were quickly approaching them.

"Good idea." She helped him pack everything up. By the time they reached the car, it was now sprinkling. Sharpay giggled.

"What's so funny," he asked as he unlocked the car and set the basket in the back seat.

"I don't know, I'm just thinking about 'The Sound of Music' when Liesl and Rolf are sitting on the bench when it starts to storm…that's what this reminded me of; us having a picnic when it started storm," she said as a clap of thunder was heard in the distance.

He looked up at the sky, "I remember that too, so let's act like they did when they went into the gazebo and get into the car and go home…" His voice trailed off as he kissed her.

She smiled, "I like that idea," she said as another thunder clap could be heard; this time louder.

They quickly got into the car; as soon as they did, it started to pour. "Boy do we have interesting timing or what," he said as he started the car and drove home.

Once they got there, it was still pouring, lightening, and thundering. They parked in the garage, got out of the car, and went into the now dark house. Since it was so dark outside, the house had also become dark. Sharpay went to turn on a light; nothing happened. "Oh great," she said as she walked to another light.

Troy sighed, "Looks like the electricity is out." He walked over to her, "We can use that to our advantage you know," he said as he took her hand and slowly led her upstairs to their room.

Once there, they sat down on the bed and made out for what seemed like hours. They somehow made their way to the other end of the bed where they laid down and continued to kiss.

As they parted, Sharpay smiled, "Troy this really has been the greatest surprise you've given me," she said as she laid her head on his chest.

"I'm glad you liked it." He kissed her head and pulled her in closer to him.

* * *

After Cindy brought the girls home from shopping (which really had lasted all day), Troy and Sharpay decided to tell them the news.

"Do I get to dress up," Larissa asked excitedly.

"Yes, you do," Sharpay said, unable to stop smiling. "You get to dress up too, Ana," she said as she picked the little girl up.

Ana smiled, "I weaw dwess," she said very quietly.

"Yes, you get to wear a dress too," Troy said as he kissed her head.

"When are you two planning this," Cindy, who was still in the house asked.

"Next weekend," Troy said. "We are just going to have family there; it's not going to be like the first time," he said as he pulled Sharpay close to him and hugged her.

Cindy smiled, "Should I tell your dad, or would you like to?"

"You can tell him, but no one else; we're going to do that," Troy said.

She nodded, "Got it." She walked over to Larissa and gave her a hug and then kissed Ana's head, "Well, I'll see you girls later; make sure to show mommy and daddy the new clothes you got," she said with a smile. She hugged and kissed her son and daughter-in-law. "See you later."

* * *

**The Next Saturday… **

Troy and Sharpay had decided to invite Jason and Kelsi as well, since they were like family to them.

"How are you feeling," Sharpay asked Kelsi, who seemed to be doing a little better than when they last saw her.

"Oh, I'm all right," she said, suppressing a smile.

Troy looked at her and Jason, "All right, what's going on you two?"

"Troy, Sharpay, they're ready to start," Sharpay's father said.

"I guess you'll just have to wait," Jason said with a wink.

Sharpay smiled to herself having a feeling she knew what was going on.

As Pacabel's Canon in D played, Ana, then Larissa, and finally Sharpay and her father walked down the aisle…or in this case, grass to where the notary was standing.

The music came to an end. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join Troy and Sharpay in holy matrimony…again," he said with a wink. He had married them the first time. "This time, however, the bride and groom have decided to write their own vows." He stepped back and motioned for Troy to speak.

He took a deep breath and looked at Sharpay. "The last 9 years seem to have passed by so fast. We have had our share of ups and downs; of sadness and happiness; joy and surprises. But one thing has stayed constant throughout our marriage: the love I have for you. Sharpay I love you so much and I want you to know that right now. I love that we were able to adopt two beautiful girls and then have two more beautiful children. Thank you for allowing me to share my love with you."

The notary looked at Sharpay who was wiping a tear from her eye. "Sharpay?"

She smiled and looked at Troy. "I cannot express just how much you mean to me and how much these past 9 years have meant to me. You have always been there when I needed you, and for that I love you. I love you for supporting me through the good and the bad; when we had our rough patches, and especially when we had our children…all of them. You mean the world to me, Troy. Thank _you _for letting me share my love with you."

"You may now kiss the bride," the notary said as Sharpay finished her vows.

The two kissed passionately, happy that they didn't hear an 'eww' from Larissa. She was too busy smiling from being able to see her mom and dad get married. In her eyes, this was their first time.

"Ladies and gentlemen…and children, I now present Mr. and Mrs. Troy and Sharpay Bolton…again," the notary said.

Everyone stood up and clapped and Ana ran to her parents and hugged their legs, since she was too short to reach up and hug anywhere else. Troy smiled and reached down and picked up the little girl. Larissa walked over to Sharpay. "I got to see your wedding," she said with a grin.

Sharpay smiled, "Yes, you did." She picked her up and hugged her.

* * *

The backyard had been transformed into what looked like a restaurant; there were tables and chairs that Jason had brought over from the restaurant and flowers that Troy's mom had picked from her famous garden on each table (she had a lot of flowers).

As the two were talking to everyone, Sharpay looked over and saw Kelsi. She pulled her over to her and Troy, "Okay now what is going on," she asked the two.

Jason looked at Kelsi, motioning for her to tell them. "I'm pregnant," she said with a smile.

Troy looked at Jason and shook his hand, "Congratulations! I had a feeling that was why you weren't feeling well on the trip," he said to Kelsi.

"So when are you due," Sharpay asked as she picked up Kayleigh who was tugging at her mom's dress.

"Early December," Kelsi said.

"I'm going to be a big sister," a proud Katie said as she walked over to her parents.

Troy smiled, "That's right, you are."

As if things couldn't get any better, Kayleigh, who was babbling, suddenly stopped and looked at Sharpay, "Mama," she said quietly.

Sharpay looked at Kayleigh in shock. "Troy, did you hear that?"

He smiled, "Yes, I did. Our little girl just said her first word!" He said loud enough for everyone to hear.

Sharpay smiled, "You are such a big girl," she said to Kayleigh who just smiled.

"Mama," she said again. She looked at Troy, "Mama."

Sharpay laughed, "No honey, that's dada. Can you say 'dada?'?" Kayleigh looked confused for a moment but just smiled again.

"We'll just take it one word at a time," Troy said as he picked Zachary up. "Dada," the little boy said.

Troy looked at him in disbelief. "How do they do that," Troy said to himself aloud.

Whenever one twin would do something, the other would follow suit. When Zachary started to walk, Kayleigh did too. When Zachary got sick, Kayleigh did too. Now Kayleigh had said her first word; Zachary had to keep with tradition.

Sharpay smiled at the twins and then looked over at Larissa and Ana. "They're getting so big," she said. "In a few months, Larissa will be in kindergarten," she said with a smile.

"And I'm sure she's going to do fine," he said as he looked over at Larissa.

* * *

**I hope you liked it! Well you all guessed correctly: Kelsi's pregnant! Please review! Something that she and Jason didn't think would ever happen. Send in thoughts, suggestions, ideas, the whole nine yards. And thank you for reading!**


	5. First Day of School

**I'm glad you all liked the last chapter! Okay, here's the next one. **

**Disclaimer: I only own the characters I made up; everything else belongs to Disney.**

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**_**Raising Kids Is Hard To Do, Ch. 5**_

**Late August…**

No one could believe how quickly the summer had gone by. Larissa would be starting school next week and was more nervous than ever about it, but Troy and Sharpay kept reminding her how much fun she was going to have there and that her teacher seemed very nice. Unfortunately, Larissa wasn't buying it. Ana would be 3 years old a few days and the twins were now 18 months old, which meant they were old enough to go to preschool and be in the Toddler Room. **(That is how old the kids at my school have to be to start attending the preschool)** Sharpay would be starting school around the same time as Larissa, but this time she was told that she would not only be the drama teacher, but the director of the school plays as well. She was very excited, seeing as theatre was her first love (before she had met Troy that is).

Kelsi and Jason were very excited as well; she was now 5 months pregnant and doing very well…after the morning sickness had subsided that is. She had to go see her OB/GYN several times to see if there was a problem with the baby or with her; thankfully there was no problem with the baby, but Kelsi did have to be put on partial bed rest so that her body wasn't under so much stress, thus causing her to be sick.

* * *

"Larissa, let's get going," Sharpay said, walking into Larissa's room. "What are you doing," she asked, seeing her under the bed.

"I don't want to go!" She put the dust ruffle down and was out of sight; or so she thought.

Troy walked into the room. "What's going on? If we don't go now, you're going to be late, Larissa," he said, seeing her foot come out from under the bed.

"I'm not going!"

"Time for drastic measures," he said aside to Sharpay. He walked over to the bed, knelt down, and literally pulled a protesting Larissa out. "Honey, you are 5 years old now. You're a big girl, and big girls don't hide under the bed on their first day of school."

"This one does," she said as she tried to get out of Troy's arms.

Sharpay shook her head and looked at her watch, "If we don't go now I'm going to be late for school." Sharpay had wanted to go with Troy to drop Larissa off at school, since it was the first day.

Troy nodded, "Which is why we are going now," he said more to Larissa than to Sharpay. He carried the screaming girl out of the room and down the stairs where Ana was standing, holding her hands over her ears.

"Wisa loud," she said so quietly that Sharpay could barely hear her.

She picked her up, "She's just a little nervous," Sharpay said as she got Ana's lunch from the counter. She looked at the clock again, "Troy we need to go NOW."

"I'm doing my best," he said, trying to juggle Larissa, her backpack, and lunch in his arms. He somehow managed to walk out to the car and place Larissa in her seat and set down her lunch and backpack.

"I don't want to go," she continued.

Troy shook his head and walked back into the house to get Kayleigh and Zachary. "Come on guys, time to take your sister to school," he said as he scooped them up. There wasn't any time to watch them walk…slowly to the car.

Sharpay hurried past Troy with Ana in her arms. She placed her in her car seat and then turned towards her car, since she was going to her school straight from dropping Larissa off.

After another 5 minutes of putting seatbelts on, getting lunches, backpacks and keys (which Troy had forgotten), they were finally ready to go.

Troy pulled up in the drop off circle at the elementary school, Sharpay right behind him. He unloaded the stroller and all the kids. "Can you take the twins, please," he asked Sharpay.

"Sure." She placed them in the stroller and then had Ana hold on to the stroller so they wouldn't lose her in the crowd.

"All right Larissa, let's go," Troy said as he started to undo her seatbelt.

"No, I don't want to!" She screamed.

"I'm sorry but you don't have a choice," he said as he took Larissa out and closed the door and carried her into the school, Sharpay not far behind.

As they approached the classroom, they could see Mrs. Johnson in the doorway greeting all of the children.

"Larissa, look who it is," Sharpay said with a smile. She gestured to her teacher, who Larissa had finally admitted to liking after she had met her at orientation.

Larissa looked up from Troy's shoulder where she had been hiding her face and saw Mrs. Johnson. A very small smile formed on her face.

"Well good morning, Larissa," Mrs. Johnson said warmly as she shook her hand. "Would you like to put your things in your cubby in the back of the room?"

Larissa nodded, "I can tell which one is mine because I can spell my name," she said proudly, not as nervous anymore. Troy set her down and she walked into the room and looked for her name.

Troy and Sharpay stood back and just watched as Larissa went through all of the names of the other kids before finding hers. When she did, she turned around and smiled. "I think she found it," Sharpay whispered.

"Mommy, daddy I found my name!" She took Troy's hand and led him to the cubby that had the name 'Larissa' written in large purple letters. "How did she know my favorite color?"

Sharpay shrugged, "Teachers know these things," she said. She wasn't about to tell her daughter that she had to fill out a little questionnaire on what Larissa's favorite color, food, book, and favorite thing to do outside.

Larissa nodded, "Oh, okay. Daddy, I need my backpack. It has to go in here."

He smiled and handed her the Dora the Explorer backpack, "Here you go honey."

She took the bag and placed on the hook in her cubby. She turned around and smiled, "I did it!"

"Yes you did," Sharpay said with a smile. "And now I have to get going to my school; it's my first day too," she said as she knelt down to hug Larissa. "Have a great first day, sweetie."

"Bye mommy, don't be nervous, the other kids will be nice," Larissa said, causing Sharpay to chuckle.

"I'll be as strong as you; or I'll try anyway." She hugged her once more before turning to Troy, "Looks like this was a success," she said quietly to him as she hugged and kissed him. She moved to Ana who was still standing by the stroller, "Bye sweetheart, I'll see you later this afternoon, all right?"

Ana just stood there, rather nervous from the crowd of people.

Sharpay picked her up and hugged her, "It's okay, don't worry. Would you like daddy to hold you?" Ana nodded and reached for Troy.

Troy took Ana from Sharpay's arms and said one more goodbye before watching her leave the room. He then turned back to Larissa who was surveying the room. "Well, I guess I need to get going as well. Now remember this kindergarten is a full day, just like preschool which means you are going to have a nap after lunch," he said, pointing to the cots. "After you wake up, mommy will be here to pick you up as soon as she gets out of school, okay?" Either he or Sharpay would be picking Larissa up from school each day.

She nodded, "Okay daddy," she said, her voice becoming shaky.

He gestured for her to come closer. Once she did, he knelt down and gave her a hug. "You're going to have a great day sweetheart, I promise. I'm sure you're going to make a lot of friends and have a great time in general."

"Okay," she said as a few tears trickled down her face. "Are you sure I'll have a good time?"

He smiled, "Yes, I'm sure. Look at everything there is to do." He hugged her once more before standing up again, "I have to get going; I need to drop your sisters and brother off at school too."

"Okay," she said, hugging him once more. She watched as he left the room with the remaining three children. Larissa walked over to a table where a little girl was sitting, coloring. "Can I sit here," she asked.

Before the little girl answered, Larissa felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and gulped. "Hello Larissa, it's nice to see you again," Alison said.

"Um…hi," she said nervously. She turned to sit down at the table, but Alison stopped her.

"No Larissa, your table is that one over there," she said icily, pointing to a different table. Larissa looked at the tables and noticed the names by each chair.

"Oh," she said quietly.

"Larissa, you know what? We can switch your name with someone else's if you'd rather sit here," Mrs. Johnson said as she came up behind Alison.

Larissa smiled, "Okay, thank you."

Mrs. Johnson smiled and took someone else's name that had not yet arrived and switched it with Larissa's. "There we go; now you may sit here."

"Thank you," Larissa said as she sat down at the table.

Mrs. Johnson smiled and walked over to a little boy who was crying for his mom to come back. She took his hand and sat him down and talked to him, thus calming him down. In a few minutes, he was calm and walked over to the story rug and got a book.

Larissa smiled at this, knowing that Mrs. Johnson was going to be a good teacher. She looked over at the little girl who was still coloring. Larissa decided that she was going to color as well. As she was scooting her chair back, however, it accidentally hit Alison's leg.

"Larissa, be careful where you're going," she said rather harshly.

"Sorry," Larissa said, looking at the floor.

Alison leaned over and looked at Larissa, "I don't want to see you causing any trouble in here, do you understand?"

She nodded, "Yes."

"Good." Alison walked over to another child and put on a cheerful face; much different from the one she was giving Larissa when she greeted her.

* * *

**Same Time, Cross Household…**

Kelsi slowly walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. She was aloud to be out of bed, just so long as she didn't put any stress on herself; making Katie's lunch wasn't stressful, since she had a little system to it. She opened the fridge and got everything out that she needed to make Katie's lunch.

"Good morning," Jason said as he greeted his wife with a kiss.

"Morning," she said, kissing him back.

"How are you feeling this morning," he asked, touching her stomach.

She shrugged, "All right I guess; as well as can be expected."

He smiled, "Well that's better than yesterday. I still can't believe you had more morning sickness."

"Yeah well the doctor said it would come and go." She finished making Katie's sandwich and placed it in the Ziploc bag she had by her. She then put everything into the lunchbox. "Katie, please come put your lunch in your backpack," she called to her daughter.

Katie came into the kitchen and did as she was told; ever since the doctor had told Kelsi to stay stress free, Jason had told Katie to not give mommy a hard time about anything. "Thank you mommy," she said as she took her lunchbox from the counter. She walked over to Kelsi and placed her head on her stomach, "When you're bigger, mommy will make your lunch too!"

Kelsi smiled; Katie was very excited about having a younger sibling. She really wanted a sister, but had decided that a brother wouldn't be too bad if she couldn't have a sister.

"Ready to go to school," Jason asked the 7 year old. Katie was now in 2nd grade and was attending the same school as both Theresa (they were in the same class since they were the same age) and Larissa.

"Yep! I'm in 2nd grade, daddy," she said excitedly. She hugged Kelsi and skipped out to the garage. "Come on daddy!"

"I'm coming," he said as he kissed Kelsi goodbye. "Call if you need anything; I can be here in 10 minutes, okay?"

She nodded, "I know; you give me the same speech everyday," she said with a laugh.

He shrugged, "I just want to make sure you know that I'm here for you."

"Which I already know…now you had better get going before Katie decides to drive herself to school," she said, referring to the fact that Katie had somehow grabbed Jason's keys while he wasn't looking.

"Not again," he groaned. "I'll see you later." He gave her a quick kiss and ran after Katie. "Katherine Marie Cross give me back my keys, please," he yelled after Katie, who was now in the garage. **(A/N: Okay in The Additions, I originally had Katie's middle name as Mae, but then forgot and had Theresa's middle name as Mae! So now her middle name is Marie. Got it? Good.)**

Kelsi just laughed and cleaned up the extra lunch items that she didn't need to put in Katie's lunch.

* * *

"All right kids, it's story time," Mrs. Johnson said to the kids who were playing in various areas of the room.

Larissa was still coloring and got up as soon as she heard her teacher; she decided that she was going to be as good as possible in her class. She walked over to the rug and found a place to sit down, only to see that Alison was standing right behind her. She started to get up when she felt Alison's hand on her shoulder.

"Larissa, when we find a place to sit here, we stay in that spot," she said crossly.

"Okay," Larissa said as she sat back down. This was not going to be a great day; not with Alison looming over her shoulder every second.

* * *

**I'm know, I'm evil. ;-) So what do you think of Alison so far? I am going to try to integrate as much of Kelsi and Jason as I can in the story, so hopefully I'll have a little section in each chapter for them. Anyway, please review! If you have suggestions, ideas, or just general comments, please do send them in. And thank you for reading!**


	6. Confessions of an Assistant Teacher

**I'm glad you like the story. This chapter may be a bit shorter since I am really tired. I worked an 11 hour day today!**

**  
A/N: I'm giving you some background on Alison here; maybe you won't hate her as much after reading this…**

**Disclaimer: I only own the characters I made up; everything else belongs to Disney.**

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_**Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 6**_

**3:15 PM, Same Day…**

Larissa was waiting in the classroom for Sharpay to come pick her up. Her dad had told her that morning that she was coming; she only hoped that it would be soon since she was not at all comfortable with Alison constantly looking over her shoulder. Larissa couldn't help but wonder what she did to make Alison hate her so much. She sighed as she sat at the table coloring the picture she had started that morning.

"What are you coloring," Alison asked, causing Larissa to jump about a mile in the air.

She looked up at Alison and shrugged, "Just something for my mom." She continued to color.

She nodded, "I see."

Larissa gave a weak smile and secretly wished her mom would hurry up and get there before Alison could accuse Larissa of doing something she didn't do. She had been good all day; she had even earned a gold star for being good during story time and naptime.

Sharpay pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car. She hurried into the school and saw Larissa and a few other kids still in the room with Alison. "Thank goodness she's not the only one left," she said to herself as she walked into the room. "How's my kindergartner," she said in an upbeat tone.

Larissa turned around. "Mommy!" She ran to Sharpay and put her arms around her. "Mommy I did a really good job today, look!" She showed her the gold star sticker that Mrs. Johnson had given her.

Sharpay smiled, "I'm so proud of you; so do you like school so far," she asked as the two walked to Larissa's cubby to get her things

"Yep; Mrs. Johnson is very nice to me," she said with a smile.

She nodded, "And how's it going with…you-know-who?" She asked, tilting her head in Alison's direction.

She shrugged, "She was kind of mean this morning," she said, looking at the floor. "What did I do wrong to make her hate me so much?"

Sharpay shook her head, "You stay here and pack up the rest of your things, I'll be right back," she said as she walked over to Alison.

Larissa nodded and did as she was told.

"Hello Alison," Sharpay said in a civil tone.

She turned around, "Good afternoon, Mrs. Bolton," Alison said in a semi-civil tone.

"So I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment; is that okay?"

She nodded, "Sure." They walked over to the front of the room where none of the kids were. "What did you want to talk about?"

Sharpay sighed, "I think you know. Why are you treating my daughter like she did something wrong to you? She's not the one who got you fired from the preschool; that was some other parent, remember?"

Alison shook her head, "I know she didn't get me fired; in fact I wasn't fired…I left the school…and I never hated, nor do I now hate Larissa," she said, looking at the carpet.

"What do you mean you didn't get fired? We were told that Amy had fired you…"

"I know that's what you were told; I'm the one who told her to say that; it was better than the truth, which I guess I should have told," she said, turning around so that she was no longer facing Sharpay.

Sharpay moved so that she was once again facing Alison. "What is it then? Did Larissa rub you the wrong way or something? Did she say something to you?"

She shook her head, "No it was none of those things," she said quietly. "It's just…she reminds me so much of my daughter…"

"Your daughter," Sharpay said, unable to believe that Alison had a daughter. "But I didn't think you were married…"

"I'm not…I mean I'm not anymore; we got a divorce after…it happened," she said, getting teary.

"What happened," Sharpay asked, now concerned.

Alison took a deep breath and looked at Sharpay, "Maya, my daughter, is just like Larissa; or she was anyway…"

"Was? You mean she…" Sharpay didn't want to say the word.

She shook her head, "No, she didn't die," she said, knowing that was what Sharpay was getting at. "About a year and a half ago, I was taking Maya home from school when we came to an intersection…some idiot drunk driver hit us…he hit the passenger side of the car," she said, her voice becoming softer and shakier. "Maya was sitting on that side, in her car seat, but he hit us so hard that she was hit too…" She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing, "Anyway, she was knocked unconscious and her head hit really hard on the window. She was um…paralyzed from the waist down, since the blow to the head caused her to hurt her spine as well…" She stopped as she went to grab a tissue.

Sharpay just stood there, shell shocked. "Oh my gosh, I-I had no idea," she said.

"That's not all…the blow to the head also caused major swelling in her brain and um she was deprived oxygen for quite a while…when the doctors finally got her back, they said that she wasn't going to live; and if she did live, her brain wasn't going to mature past the age of 5 years old." She took a deep breath and looked at the floor again, "My husband blamed me; he said that if I had been looking where I was going…which I was, that none of this would have happened."

"So what happened with him?" Sharpay glanced over at Larissa who had gotten tired of just standing there and was now sitting at a table with another little girl looking at a book with her.

"He said that he didn't want a child who was mentally handicapped; or physically handicapped for that matter…so he left us."

Sharpay couldn't think of anything to say at first. Finally, she garnered up the strength to. "I'm sorry that this happened to your family…but why exactly have you been treating Larissa the way you have? I mean, she didn't do anything wrong."

She nodded, "I know and I'm really sorry about that too; it's just that Larissa looks exactly like Maya and whenever I see her, I see Maya and then I remember what happened and I just get so angry, both at myself for driving that day and my husband for walking out on us…why do you think I'm just an assistant and not a full-time teacher? I didn't have time or enough money to go back to school to get my degree; do you know what it's like raising a child who used to be able to do everything by herself but now can't?" She sighed, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that last part."

Sharpay shook her head, "No, it's all right…but can you do me a favor please?"

"What's that?"

"Apologize to Larissa…for treating her…well not treating her like you do the other kids."

She nodded, "Yeah I guess I have been pretty hard on her, haven't I?" She walked over to Larissa. "Hey Larissa, can I talk to you for a moment, please?"

Larissa nodded and stood up, "Okay." She could see that Alison had been crying. "How come you're sad?"

"Never mind that part…listen, I just want to apologize for not being the nicest person to you…it's a long story, but from now on, things are going to be different, all right?"

She nodded, "Okay," she said, not really understanding what Alison was talking about.

Sharpay walked over to the two, "Well we should go," she said. "Um do you have a picture of…"

Before she could finish, Alison walked over to her purse and took a picture out of her wallet. "Yes, this is Maya."

Sharpay's jaw dropped. She DID look exactly like Larissa! "She's beautiful," Sharpay said as she handed the picture back to Alison.

"Thank you." She took another deep breath, "So I'll see you tomorrow, okay Larissa?"

She nodded, "Yeah…okay."

Sharpay walked out of the room with Larissa, still in shock of what she had just heard.

* * *

**Cross Home…**

"Mommy, I'm home," Katie called out to her mom. "Mommy?" She climbed the stairs and saw her mom in bed.

Kelsi opened her eyes and looked at the door, "Hi sweetie," she said with a yawn. "Did you just get home?"

"Yep, and daddy said he is going to make dinner," she said with a smile.

"Thank goodness," Kelsi said to herself. "Okay, that sounds good to…Whoa." Kelsi gripped her stomach.

"What's wrong mommy," Katie asked, becoming worried.

"I don't think anything's wrong," she said with a small smile. "Honey go get your dad."

Katie ran down the stairs, "Daddy, mommy needs you upstairs now!"

Jason put the knife he was using to chop vegetables with down and hurried up the stairs and into his and Kelsi's bedroom, "What's wrong," he asked, practically out of breath.

Kelsi smiled, "Come here, I think I just felt the baby kick for the first time."

Feeling a sigh of relief spread through his body, Jason walked over to the bed and put his hand on Kelsi's stomach. "I don't feel anything."

"Just wait a minute," she said. "It'll happen again…whoa. Did you feel that?" She looked over at him.

He smiled, "Yeah, I did. I can't believe the baby kicks at 5 months," he said.

Kelsi rolled her eyes, "Don't you read anything on what the doctor gave us?"

Katie looked over at the two, "Mommy is my brother or sister okay," she asked worriedly.

Kelsi smiled, "Yes, he or she is just fine; the baby is kicking, that's all. Want to feel it?"

Katie smiled and nodded and got on the bed and sat on the other side of Kelsi. "How do I feel it?"

Jason placed her hand where his was, "Just keep your hand there and you will feel something…I can't really describe it."

Katie nodded and just kept her hand there. She suddenly felt something hit her hand, "Mommy, was that the baby?"

"It sure was," Kelsi said with a smile. "Your baby brother or sister is saying hello to us."

Katie placed her ear on Kelsi's stomach, "I can hear you, now what are you trying to say?"

Jason and Kelsi exchanged glances and suppressed laughter.

"Mommy, the baby isn't answering me," Katie said as she crossed her arms.

"Maybe it got tired," Jason said, shrugging. "Babies get tired a lot, so maybe it's taking a nap right now."

Katie nodded, "Okay." She got off the bed, "If the baby talks again, tell it that I want to talk to it." She left the room and skipped to her own.

Jason chuckled, "What do you think she wants to tell it?"

"Maybe to always listen to her and not touch her toys," she said with a giggle.

He nodded, "I can see that. She will probably want to have another heart-to-heart talk; like she did when we first got the cat."

Kelsi laughed, remembering how Katie had picked up the 4 month old kitten and told it very sternly to sleep with her and always go potty in the kitty potty, not the person potty. "I just hope she doesn't try to give it cat food," she said with a giggle.

* * *

Troy paced back and forth, still not able to digest what Sharpay had just told him. "So that's why she treated Larissa like that," he asked, still pacing.

"Apparently so," she said with a sigh.

"What I don't understand is why she would make us think she got fired when in reality she quit the preschool; why would she do that?"

"She probably didn't want anyone to know the truth and the hours at the elementary school are a little better than what she had at the elementary school," she said, looking up at him. "And will you stop pacing already? You're making me dizzy."

He stopped, "Sorry. But doesn't she seem a little young to have a child?"

She shrugged, "Not really; I mean didn't you say your mom was 22 when she had you?"

He nodded, "Yeah. So do you think Amy knows; or Mrs. Johnson for that matter?"

"Most likely," she said. "She showed me a picture of her daughter."

He looked at her, "She did?"

"Yeah, she looks exactly like Larissa." She took a deep breath, "I only hope that this confession will actually change the way she has been treating Larissa."

"Me too," he said, sincerely hoping that Alison would change now that the truth was out.

* * *

**So has your opinion on Alison changed? Hmmm:)Anyway, I had to add a little 'cuteness' with Katie and the baby. Please review and thank you for reading!**


	7. Nice to Meet You

**I'm glad I have changed your opinions on Alison! Oh, and no-Larissa is not her daughter…one of the reviewers asked me that; there's just a resemblance. :)**

**Anyway…**

**Disclaimer: Same as always; though I wish I did own everything…I would be rather wealthy. ;-)**

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_**Raising Kids Is Hard To Do, Ch. 7**_

Over the next few days, there was a definite change in the way in which Alison treated Larissa. She was kinder and kept telling herself that Larissa wasn't Maya and she wasn't her ex-husband either. Larissa had also noticed a change, but had no idea why Alison was treating her differently. All she knew was that she was glad that Alison wasn't yelling at her anymore.

"Larissa, time for school," Troy called. Since Sharpay had an early meeting that morning, Troy volunteered to take the kids to school.

She came down the stairs, "I'm coming daddy."

He smiled when he saw what she was wearing. "Your grandma bought that for you, didn't she," he asked. Larissa was wearing a short-sleeve dress with sunflowers all over it. Troy had made it a point to tell his mom that Larissa loved flowers and that she loved them even more on her clothes.

"Yep, she got me this when you and mommy went out that one day." She smiled and twirled around, showing off the dress. Unfortunately, as she was twirling, she stepped on Kayleigh's foot.

Kayleigh responded with a rather loud scream, followed by shrill crying. Troy hurried over to her and picked her up. "Larissa, you need to be careful sweetheart," he said gently to Larissa who was looking as if she had just committed a terrible crime.

"Sorry, daddy," she said quietly. She looked at Kayleigh who was still crying, "Sorry Kayleigh."

He smiled, "It's okay; just be careful next time…and have you seen your sister?" He looked around the room for Ana who was nowhere to be found.

"No, but I'll go look in my room," she said as she headed up the stairs. She walked into her room and saw Ana standing in the middle of the room whimpering. She had just gotten sick all over herself and the floor. Larissa groaned, "Gross Ana! Now we're really going to be late." She stomped down the stairs, "Daddy she's up here, and you better bring a lot of rags with you," she yelled.

Troy was confused. "Rags," he said to Kayleigh. "Why do I need rags?" The toddler just stuck her fingers in her mouth and shrugged. He shook his head and walked upstairs and into Larissa and Ana's room, "Oh boy."

"See, I told you that you would need rags," Larissa said matter-of-factly.

He nodded, "Yep, you're right." He walked over to the linen closet and wiped up the mess and then quickly changed Ana. "Okay we really need to get going."

"You're taking her to school!"

"No, but she is only 3 years old; she's way too young to stay at home by herself," he said.

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah." She went back downstairs and picked up her backpack and put her lunchbox inside.

After Troy had managed to get all four kids in the car, he drove Larissa to school first, since it didn't really matter if the twins were late for preschool (well, not too late anyway). "Honey I'd walk in with you, but I'm in a hurry he said as he helped her out of the car.

"But you always walk me in," she said, pouting.

"I'm sorry but with your sister sick and with Kayleigh and Zachary, it's just too difficult; plus I don't want to get the rest of your class sick."

Alison, who had just parked her car in the lot walked over to the two, "Good morning Larissa," she said, sensing that something wasn't right. "What's wrong?"

"My daddy won't take me inside," she said, frowning at Troy.

Troy looked over at Alison, "One of her sisters is sick and I don't want to risk getting all the other kids sick," he explained.

She nodded, "I see; well how about I walk you inside, Larissa," she offered.

Larissa looked at Troy who simply nodded. "Okay," she said dramatically.

Alison gave a small smile and walked Larissa inside the school as Troy closed the car door, got in, and drove away.

As they were walking, Alison dropped her purse, along with most of what was in it. "Great," she muttered to herself. She knelt down to pick everything up.

Larissa knelt down as well to help her when she came across a picture. "Who's this and why does she look like me," she asked, showing the picture to Alison.

"Oh that's my little girl, Maya," she said as she took the picture and smiled. "She's your age, you know."

"How come she doesn't go here?"

Alison finished picking her things up and continued to walk, Larissa by her side. "She doesn't go here because she goes to a special school."

"Like how Ana goes to a special school?"

She nodded, "Sort of."

"What's wrong with her," the inquisitive 5 year old asked.

Alison sighed and didn't say anything until they got into the room. "Well…you know how Ana has trouble talking and understanding certain things?"

She nodded.

"Well Maya has the same problems, only they're a little worse than Ana's, I guess you could say."

"Oh," Larissa said, not fully understanding. "Will she be okay?"

She smiled, "Yes, she'll be just fine; the school she is at takes very good care of her," she said, trying to hold back her tears. She didn't want to think about what had happened.

Larissa nodded, "That's good," she said as she walked over to her cubby and put her things away.

Alison watched her go and then turned to put her things away. "Morning, Sherri," she said as she saw the teacher walk over to her.

"Good morning; how are you today?" Sherri (Mrs. Johnson) asked.

She nodded, "All right; all things considered," she said in a distant tone.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just…Maya's tuition bill is due at the end of the month and they just raised the tuition at the school, so it's getting harder to afford taking her there," she said, shaking her head.

Sherri nodded, "Well you know we have a pretty good special education program here, right?"

Alison shook her head, "I do, but I think that Maya's needs are beyond what this school can offer," she said sadly.

"I see…well, just think about it, okay?" She gave Alison a reassuring smile. "All right children, let's sit down on the story rug," Sherri called out to the children.

* * *

"She's sick again," Sharpay said over the phone. She was in between classes and had decided to give Troy a call to see how things had gone that morning.

"Well she only got sick once, so I'm thinking it had something to do with giving her that vitamin on an empty stomach," he said, preparing himself to hear the worst from his wife.

"You gave her the vitamin on an empty stomach! Are you nuts, Troy? Of course she's going to be sick if you do that; did you feed her breakfast afterwards or something?"

He was silent at first, "Um…yes?"

"Ugh, Troy it's the other way around! Breakfast and then vitamin, okay," Sharpay said exasperated.

He sighed, "I know, and I'm sorry but we were running a little late this morning and I goofed up, I'm sorry."

She took a deep breath, "Me too…I shouldn't have yelled at you like that; forgive me?" She asked with a hopeful smile.

"You know I always do."

She smiled, "Okay then…well I have to get to my next class, so I guess I'll just see you at home then, okay?"

He nodded, forgetting that she couldn't see him, "Yeah, I'll see you this afternoon…love you."

"Love you more."

He smiled and hung up the phone, as did she. This was how most of their arguments were; one would yell at the other and then apologize. Although Sharpay was usually the one who would do the yelling.

* * *

**Cross Household…**

After making Katie's lunch, saying goodbye to her and Jason, and cleaning up the kitchen, Kelsi decided to lie down. She went upstairs and lay down on the bed, but just as she did, she felt the baby kick again. "Sweetie, can't you let mommy get some rest," she groaned. The response was yet another kick. "I guess not." She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep, even though the baby kept on kicking…the doctor had told her that she and Jason had a very lively baby and to expect it (they still did not know, nor did they want to know the sex of the baby) to be rather active.

After about an hour, Kelsi woke up to the phone ringing. "Can't I ever get a break around here," she muttered as the baby kicked again. "I get it, okay? You already said 'no.'" She got up and answered the phone. "Hello…yes, this is she…oh great…well the only thing is, I can't come and get her…because I'm not allowed to," she said, knowing she sounded like a horrible parent. "No, it's not that I don't want to, it's that I'm not allowed to drive for the remainder of my pregnancy. Can't you just call my husband…thank you." She sighed and hung up the phone.

20 minutes later, Kelsi heard the garage door open and close. She slowly got up and walked downstairs and saw Jason holding a very pink Katie. "Wow, they weren't kidding when they said that she had a high fever," she said, feeling her forehead.

"No, they weren't," Jason said as he carried Katie up to her room, with Kelsi in tow.

"So how high is it?"

"103.6," he answered.

Kelsi's eyes went wide, "Well shouldn't we take her to the hospital or something," she asked frantically.

Knowing that she wasn't supposed to become excited over anything, Jason quickly jumped to her side, "Don't worry; I made an appointment for her to see the doctor at noon. It's 11:00 right now."

"Noon! Why so long?"

He shrugged, "'Tis the season," he said, even though it wasn't really flu season yet.

"Fine, but I am coming with you."

He looked at her, "No you're not; don't you remember what the doctor said? You are not allowed to go anywhere that will cause you to get stressed. If Katie has something other than the flu, you'll probably get stressed," he said, knowing for a fact that she would. She had freaked out when Katie had strep throat the year before; something that was very treatable with an antibiotic. She had also freaked out when Katie got sick from watching the scene in 'Madeline' when Madeline had appendicitis.

She sighed, "Fine; but give me a full report," she said sternly.

"Yes ma'am," Jason said as he walked back over to Katie. "How are you feeling honey?"

"My head hurts," she said as she rubbed her eyes. "My tummy hurts too…down there," she said, pointing to her right side.

Jason looked over at Kelsi, "Hmm, you know the hospital doesn't sound like such a terrible idea," he said, having a feeling of what was wrong with Katie.

Kelsi nodded, "I'm coming and don't you argue," she said to him. "I will do my best to not overreact."

He sighed, "If I see you start to, I will personally make you go sit in the car, understand?"

"You do know that I'd freak out even more in the car, right?"

"Okay then, I'll make you stay in the waiting room while I go with the doctor to see what is wrong," he said as he lifted the little girl up and carried her out to the car.

"Deal," Kelsi said, following Jason.

* * *

Sharpay pulled up at Larissa's school at exactly 3:15. She got out of the car and walked into her daughter's classroom where she found her looking at a book. "Hi sweetie," she said as she kissed her head.

"Mommy!" Larissa closed the book and ran into Sharpay's arms.

"How was school today," she asked as she picked Larissa up.

"Good…but Miss Alison's daughter is sick kind of like Ana," she said.

Sharpay nodded, "That's right," she said.

"She seemed very sad."

She nodded again, "It's hard to go through that kind of thing," Sharpay said as she walked to Larissa's cubby and gathered her things. She had put Larissa down as she put her lunchbox back into her backpack.

"Mommy who's that," Larissa asked, gesturing to a little girl who was in a wheelchair; Alison with her.

Sharpay smiled sadly, "That's Miss Alison's daughter," Sharpay said.

Larissa walked over to the two before Sharpay could stop her. "Is this Maya," Larissa asked Alison.

She nodded, "Yes, Larissa. This is my daughter." She knelt down and looked at Maya, "Maya, this is Larissa; can you say hello?"

The little girl slowly turned her head, "Hi," she said softly.

"Why isn't she walking?"

Sharpay hurried over to the three, "I'm sorry," Sharpay said, picking Larissa up.

"Don't be," Alison said. "She isn't walking because…she can't," Alison said, rubbing her daughter's shoulder.

"Why not?"

"Her legs just don't work for her like yours do," she said simply. "Anyway, I had forgotten something and since I had already picked her up from school, I figured I'd bring her in with me," she said, mainly to Sharpay.

Sharpay nodded, "Well it's very nice to meet you, Maya," she said with a smile.

Maya looked up and smiled as well, but didn't say anything.

"Well we should go," Sharpay said after an awkward silence. "Bye, Maya, it was nice meeting you."

"Bye Maya…did you know we look like each other," Larissa said, hearing both her mom and Alison chuckle softly. "What did I say?"

"Nothing," Sharpay said as the two walked out of the room and to the car.

* * *

**Poor Katie! So what do you think is wrong with her? I gave you a little hint there, so you'll probably figure it out. And Maya was actually introduced. What do you think is going to happen between her and Larissa…hmmm…I would really like your opinions on that; please review! And thank you for reading!**


	8. Of Faces and Operations

**Many people who have reviewed have been wondering if Larissa and Maya are long lost twins; the answer is no, they are not. Maya really is Alison's. The reason that Alison kept being so mean to Larissa is because she reminded her of Maya, thus reminding her of what had happened. I hope this clears some stuff up! Sorry for causing that confusion. **

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

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_**Raising Kids Is Hard To Do, Ch. 8**_

Kelsi sat in the chair of the waiting room in the ER. Katie had yet to be seen and was laying down, her head in Jason's lap. It had only been 10 minutes, but it felt more like 10 hours to Kelsi. She moved Katie's bangs out of her face and looked up, "When are they going to see her!"

Jason sighed, knowing this was going to happen. "It hasn't been that long and if you keep this up, you're staying out here," he said sternly.

"But she's sick and…"

"Katie Cross," the receptionist called out.

Jason gave Kelsi a look. "See? I told you," he said as he lifted a groggy Katie from the chairs and carried her over to the receptionist. "This is Katie," he said.

She nodded, "The doctor will be out in a moment," she said.

"Thank you." He motioned for Kelsi to come over to him.

A doctor soon emerged, "Good afternoon," he said in an upbeat tone. "So, what have we here," he asked as he led Jason and Kelsi to a room.

"She was sent home from school with a very high fever and just before we decided to come here, she complained of a pain in her stomach," Jason explained.

He nodded, "I see. Let's lay her down on the bed so I can examine her," the doctor said as he put a pair of latex examining gloves on.

Katie's eyes were now open. She watched as the doctor pressed on various parts of her stomach, asking if it hurt. "OUCH! RIGHT THERE!" She literally shouted as she started to cry.

"I'm sorry," the doctor said. "I didn't mean to hurt you," he said as he put her shirt back down. "May I speak to the two of you for a moment, please?"

Jason nodded and took Kelsi's hand and they walked over to the doctor. "So what is it," he asked nervously.

"Well it is your typical case of appendicitis," he said. "It's extremely common and a very easy operation."

Kelsi's eyes widened, "Operation!"

"It is the only way to cure what your daughter has," the doctor said to Kelsi, trying to calm her down. "Believe me, this is one of the most common operations we do here and when it's detected as early as this is, then the operation goes very smoothly."

She took a deep breath, trying her best to remain calm, but suddenly felt a dizzy spell come on and nearly fainted. Jason was right behind her and caught her and placed her in a chair.

"Are you all right," he asked.

She rubbed her head, "Yeah…just a little dizzy," she said.

Jason kissed her head, "Are you sure you're up to going upstairs? I can easily call someone to take you home…"

"No! I am not leaving my baby," she said adamantly. "Jason, I'm okay, really. It's just the shock from hearing what Katie has, that's all," she said, trying to reassure him.

He nodded, "Okay; but if you have another one, I'm calling your mom to come pick you up; got it?"

She nodded, "Yes, fine, whatever." She looked over at Katie who was looking rather frightened.

"Mommy, daddy, what's going on," she asked, her voice shaking.

Jason walked over to his daughter, "Honey you're going to have a little operation to help make your tummy feel better, okay?" He smiled softly and took her hand.

She looked at him and nodded, "Okay…but will it hurt?"

The doctor walked over to them, "No, you won't be feeling a thing; I promise."

"Cross your heart and hope to die," she said to him.

The doctor smiled, "Yes, I promise," he reiterated. He then turned to Jason and Kelsi. "The doctor who will be performing the operation is Dr. Lasker. I would like to move Katie up right now and schedule her to have her appendix removed within the next five hours or so."

Kelsi nodded, "Okay…and thank you very much," she said as she stood up and shook his hand.

"You're welcome; and trust me when I tell you that your daughter is going to be fine…she is stubborn, I can tell and that's good," he said with a smile. He walked out of the room.

Jason took Kelsi's hand, "See? Everything's going to be fine."

"Daddy, my tummy!"

Kelsi walked over to her, "Shh, it's okay sweetheart, you're going to be fine."

* * *

**Same Time, Bolton Residence…**

"Hey there, how was school" Troy asked as he picked Larissa up and kissed her head.

She smiled, "It was good; I got another gold star for being good." She showed it to him.

"I am very proud of you," he said as he smiled and set her down.

"I also met Miss Alison's daughter…did you know she looks like me?"

He nodded, remembering how Sharpay had described the picture to him. "So I heard."

Sharpay smiled, "Yeah it's really weird; I mean, Maya isn't adopted…she is Alison's, but she (Maya) just looks so much like Larissa; the nose and mouth are different on the two, but their hair is the same length; though Maya's is a little lighter than Larissa's and her eyes are blue while Larissa's are brown, but still; the resemblance is there."

"I met her today," Larissa said to Troy.

He gave her a look of confusion, "You did? How did you manage that?" He looked up at Sharpay.

"She said that she left something at the school and had already picked up her daughter, so she just brought her into the school with her," she explained.

"She seems nice, but she can't walk, daddy. That made me sad," Larissa said.

He smiled softly, "It is sad, but do you remember what I told you what counts about people the most?"

She nodded, "What's inside is more important than what's on the outside, right?"

"That's exactly right," Sharpay interjected. "Anyway, I'm going to check on Ana," she said, giving Troy a look.

"I said I was sorry," he said when he saw the look.

"I know I just want to check on her anyway." She walked upstairs and into Ana and Larissa's room.

Ana was sitting on the floor playing quietly with her dolls. She looked up and smiled, "Mama!" She slowly got up and walked over to Sharpay.

She picked her up, "Hello sweetie; how was your day?"

"I sick," she said.

"I know, daddy told me. But you know what? Daddy also told me that you're feeling a lot better now and can probably eat dinner…how does spaghetti sound," she said, knowing it was Ana's favorite.

Ana smiled and nodded, "Yummy," she said.

"I thought you would like that." Sharpay set her back down so she could continue playing and walked into the twins' room. Zachary was still asleep from his nap, but Kayleigh was awake and playing with her bear. "And how was your day," Sharpay asked as she lifted the little girl out of her crib.

Kayleigh smiled, "Mama," she said quietly.

"Let's go downstairs so we don't wake up your brother," Sharpay whispered as she walked out of the room with Kayleigh in her arms.

* * *

**Hospital, 5 Hours Later…**

The doctor from the ER had managed to schedule Katie's operation only two hours after Kelsi and Jason had arrived at the ER. The two were now in the waiting room of the OR, waiting until they were allowed to see her. They saw the doctor who had performed the operation, Dr. Lasker emerge from the OR.

Jason quickly got up, "How did everything go?"

He smiled, "Just fine; it was an acute case, but it was detected just in time, so we had no problems at all," he said reassuringly.

Kelsi, who had been sitting down since she had another bout of dizziness slowly stood up and walked over to the doctor, "Thank you so much," she said as she shook his hand.

"It was no problem," he said.

"So when can we see her," Jason asked.

"She is on her way to Recovery right now, so I'd say in about 10 minutes. I would like for her to get settled first. I'll have the nurse come and let you know when you can see her."

"How long will she have to stay," Kelsi asked.

"Just the night; we just want to make sure everything is okay; hospital policy," he said, seeing the fear in Kelsi's face.

She nodded, "Okay…thank you."

He smiled and walked back into the OR.

"She's okay," Kelsi said with a sigh of relief.

"But you won't be if you don't sit down right now," Jason said, helping her to the chairs.

She did as she was told. "The baby just keeps kicking; it's almost as if it wants to know if Katie is all right."

Jason shrugged, "Try telling it that."

Kelsi looked at him as if he were from Mars. "Say that again?"

He rolled his eyes and sat down next to her and rubbed Kelsi's stomach. "Hey in there; your sister is okay," he said as he felt the baby's kicking minimize greatly.

She looked up at him in shock, "Wow, I can't believe that worked. How did you know it would?"

"I didn't. I just kind of guessed; sounds like the two of them are going to have quite a bond," he said with a smile.

A nurse soon came over to them, "Are you Jason and Kelsi Cross," she asked, looking at a clipboard.

"That's us," Jason said as he stood up. "Can we see our daughter now?"

"Yes, she is in Recovery room 6. Please follow me."

The two did as they were told and were led to a room with two beds; one of which was empty. They walked over to Katie who was just starting to wake up.

Her eyes fluttered open, "Mommy? Daddy?" She said hoarsely.

"Hi pumpkin," Jason said as he took Katie's hand; the one that wasn't hooked up to an IV that is. "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged, "Sore. You said my tummy would stop hurting." She frowned at him.

"Well you're sore from the operation, but that should go away soon," he said, pulling up a chair for Kelsi.

"Other than sore, how do you feel," Kelsi asked as she kissed her daughter's head.

"Okay I guess. I'm really tired though," she said with a yawn.

Jason nodded, "The doctor said you would be very sleepy after the operation. How about closing your eyes for a little while?"

"I don't want you to go though," she said, her eyes filling with tears.

"We're not going anywhere," Kelsi said. "We'll be right here when you wake up," she said with a smile. "We promise."

As she nodded, Katie could feel her eyelids become heavy. She was soon fast asleep.

Jason smiled and reached into the bag that contained the stuffed rabbit Katie had brought with her to the hospital. He placed it alongside her. Right as he did that, she clutched the bunny and held it as if she was in her own bed at home. "She's going to be fine," Jason whispered to Kelsi.

"Yeah; you're right." She smiled and watched as her daughter slept.

* * *

**Yeah, short chapter I know. I'm not sure what do to with Larissa and Maya…in the previous chapter I had mentioned that Alison was having money problems with paying the tuition bill for Maya's school; should Maya attend the school Larissa is at and be in the special education class? Please let me know what you think! And as always, thank you for reading! And yes, Katie really is going to be fine. :)**


	9. Transitions

**I just want to say a big fat THANK YOU to all of you who have reviewed both this chapter alone (there have been a lot!) and the entire story so far. Thank you so much! It really means a lot to me. **

**So this chapter is dedicated to everyone who has reviewed (mainly in the last chapter). I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: Same as always…**

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_**Raising Kids Is Hard To Do, Ch. 9**_

**Small Summary…**

Katie had completely recovered from her operation, thanks to some extra time off school (the doctor recommended it) and a lot of extra attention from her parents; which she used fully to her advantage. At first she didn't want to go back to school, but when she was told that Kelsi would have to be on complete bed rest due to the fact that she had a few Braxton-Hicks contractions, she couldn't wait to get back to school. The last thing she wanted was to sit at home and have to do everything for herself (what little kid would?).

Alison had tried her best to make ends meet with car payments, the rent that was due on her apartment, and of course, tuition payments for Maya. Unfortunately, at the end of the month, Alison realized that something had to go. She couldn't give up her apartment; where would the two of them live? Plus it was a very safe part of town; she couldn't sell her car since she needed it mainly to transport Maya around, so there was only one thing left: school tuition. She had looked into the special education program at Red Oak Elementary School **(The school that I'm using as the elementary school that Larissa attends)** and she had to admit that it looked pretty good; there were some kids that were completely unable to speak and unable to use their hands. Maya was able to talk, even though she spoke quietly and not always in complete sentences and sometimes when she was upset she just wouldn't speak altogether and she was able to use her hands. It was her legs that she couldn't use. Even though the doctors had said that physical therapy might help, she couldn't afford it; not with all of the other payments she had…yet now that she didn't have to pay for tuition, she started to think about it…

* * *

**Three Weeks Later…**

Sharpay pulled up in front of the elementary school and helped Larissa out of the car. She took her hand to walk her inside, but Larissa didn't budge. "Larissa let's go; I really need to get to work honey."

Larissa wasn't paying attention to her mom though. She was looking at someone else who had just pulled up behind them and was helping her daughter out of the car…and into her wheelchair.

"Larissa, let's…" Sharpay looked up and saw what Larissa was gawking at. "Honey, it's not polite to stare," Sharpay said softly.

"But mommy, how come Miss Alison's daughter is here? I thought she went to another school," she asked, still watching as Alison helped Maya into the wheelchair. She then got her backpack and lunchbox out of the front seat. "Mommy, that's the same lunchbox that I have!"

Sharpay sighed and looked at her watch, "Larissa, we really have to…" Before she could say anything more, she saw Larissa walking towards Alison and Maya. "Larissa," Sharpay groaned to herself as she followed her.

"Hi Miss Alison," Larissa said as she walked up to the two.

Alison looked up from what she was doing, "Good morning Larissa. How are you today?"

"I'm good…how come your daughter's here?"

Sharpay finally caught up to Larissa, "I am so sorry if she was bothering you," Sharpay began.

Alison waved it off, "Trust me, she wasn't." She looked at her daughter, "Maya, do you remember Larissa; the girl you met the last time you were here," Alison said to her daughter in a very gentle voice.

Maya slowly nodded and smiled in Larissa's direction.

Larissa smiled back and pulled out her lunchbox, "Look, we have the same one," she said, comparing the two.

Maya looked from her lunchbox to Larissa's. "Same one," she said, repeating what Larissa had just said.

"How come you're here," Larissa asked.

"Okay, time to go in," Sharpay said, now completely embarrassed.

Alison gave a small smile as she started wheeling Maya into the school with Sharpay and Larissa at their side. "Actually Larissa, Maya is going to be coming here for school from now on," Alison said.

"She is? But where will she go? I thought you said she couldn't learn with us."

Sharpay now wanted to find something hard and knock herself out. "Larissa that is none of your business," she said through clenched teeth.

"She can't learn in the same room as us," Alison said, deciding to explain why her daughter was at the school, "She will be in Mrs. Roth's room." She pointed down the hall where the special education section of the school was. It was only three classrooms, but it was better than none; and each room was geared towards each student's particular needs.

Larissa nodded, "Oh, okay." She looked at Sharpay, "See mommy, I didn't say anything wrong."

Sharpay just smiled at Alison, "Well I'm glad that you'll actually be able to spend more time with her now," she said as she and Larissa went one way and Alison and Maya went the other.

"Me too; I'll see you in a little while, Larissa," she said as she walked off.

"Are you mad at me, mommy," Larissa asked as they entered Larissa's classroom and put her things in her cubby.

She sighed, "No I'm not mad at you honey. I just wasn't sure that Miss Alison was ready to say why her daughter was here and ready for your questions and comments."

Larissa nodded, "Oh…do you think that Maya's nice," she asked, completely changing the subject.

"Well she seems nice and she seemed to really like how you and she have the same lunchbox," she said with a smile.

"Disney Princesses are very important," Larissa said as if this were a very important matter. "They all have princes who love them." **(A/N: Yes, that is kind of an indirect nod to Ashley Tisdale's rendition of "Someday My Prince Will Come" from Disney mania 4!)**

Sharpay just smiled, "You're right, they are," she said as she stood up. "And if I don't get to work on time, my prince, your daddy will not be too happy when he finds out that his princess, me, has no job at the end of the day. So I'm going to say goodbye now…can I have a hug?"

"Yep," she said as she hugged her mom. "Bye mommy, don't be late for school; you said it was bad to be late."

Sharpay rolled her eyes, sometimes wishing she had never said that to Larissa, not knowing that it would get thrown back in her face every now and then. "Bye sweetie." She walked out of the room and out of the school and to her car. As she got there, she saw a familiar car pull up. She smiled when she saw the two get out, "Well hello there," she said, walking over to them.

Jason smiled, "Sharpay, I didn't know you were still here. I thought you had to be at school," he said as he helped Katie out of the car.

She looked at her watch, "Oh no, you're right, I do! Um, I'll talk to you later," she said as she hurried into her own car, started it, and drove away.

Katie looked up at her dad, "She's funny."

He nodded, "Yep." He handed Katie her backpack. "Have a great day honey," he said as he kissed her goodbye. Since she was in second grade, Katie didn't need for her dad to walk her to class anymore.

"Bye daddy," she said as she walked into the school and down the hall towards her classroom.

* * *

Alison made sure to give Mrs. Roth every single detail as to what Maya did and did not need help with. "She is very good at coloring; she does it all the time at home and she loves to sing Disney songs," she said in a nervous tone; this was the first time in a year that Maya would be changing schools; she had gotten very used to the one she had been attending and Alison was afraid that the transition would be very difficult for her.

"Don't worry, Ms. Dennings, everything will be fine, I'm sure that Maya will fit right in," Mrs. Roth said in a soothing tone. **(A/N: I just realized that I never gave Alison a last name! Yipes! Well now she has one: Dennings.)**

Alison nodded, "I know…it's just…I'm worried that she'll get scared or something. She has a gag reflex and if she gets herself riled up enough, she'll make herself sick and trust me, it's happened several times before and…"

"Alison, you need to relax. Just look at her," she said, gesturing towards Maya, who seemed to be mingling with a classmate. "She will be fine and if there are any problems, you're right down the hall, okay?"

She nodded, "I'm sorry." She took a deep breath and walked over to her daughter, "Okay sweetie, mommy has to go to work," she said slowly and quietly. "I love you," she said as she hugged her and kissed her head.

Maya's eyes started to fill with tears, but she wanted to be brave for her mom so she held them back, "Bye…mommy," she said in a shaky voice.

Alison got up and walked out of the room. As soon as she did, she could hear Maya start to cry. She wanted to go back in and just pick the little girl up and hold her, but she knew that if she did, Maya would never be able to separate well. Alison took a deep breath and continued to walk down the hall and outside so she could park her car in the parking lot. She then headed back inside to her classroom.

* * *

**After School…**

Larissa waited outside for her mom to come. She would normally wait in the classroom, but Mrs. Johnson had a meeting she couldn't miss and Alison had to go get her own daughter. Luckily, one of the teachers was always outside with the kids, just to make sure everything was okay and that none of them were ever alone. Larissa heard the door open and looked behind her and saw Alison wheeling Maya outside.

"All right honey, mommy is going to get the car, so I'll be right back," she said, showing her the keys and then pointing to the car.

Maya nodded, understanding what her mom was saying, "Okay." She looked over and saw that Larissa was next to her. She smiled, remembering who she was.

Larissa smiled back, "Hi Maya, I'm Larissa. We have the same lunchbox, remember?"

Maya smiled, "Disney…Princesses?" She asked slowly.

"Yeah! I told my mommy all about that today when she dropped me off."

Maya nodded, "Me too…Disney is…my favorite," she said with a smile.

"Mine too…what movie is your favorite? I love 'Cinderella.' You know, where she has the fairy godmother help her go to the ball to meet the prince?" Larissa knew this movie backwards and forwards since she watched it at least once every two weeks.

"'Cinderella,'" she said, "My favorite too."

Larissa smiled; Maya was the first person who said that 'Cinderella' was her favorite movie. All of the other girls had either said 'The Little Mermaid' or 'Sleeping Beauty.' A few said 'Snow White,' but none of them said 'Cinderella.' She looked up and saw her mom's car. "Oh, my mom's here…maybe you can come over and watch the movie with me someday."

Maya smiled, this was the first girl who had ever invited her over; even before the car accident, Maya had never been the popular girl; she was considered to be somewhat of an outcast since she had always been different; she had problems with her speech development, which caused her to start talking later than all of her classmates. Even though they were all in preschool, the other kids would not be very nice just because she couldn't answer them or said something that was completely out of the blue. But Larissa didn't seem to care about this; she seemed to almost understand her.

Sharpay got out of the car and walked over to Larissa, "Hi sweetie," she said as she hugged her daughter. "How was your day?"

"Good, I finally found someone who likes 'Cinderella!'"

She smiled, knowing how much she wanted a friend who liked what she liked, "And which classmate is that," she asked.

"It's Maya, mommy! She likes 'Cinderella' too! Can she come over at watch it someday with us?"

By this time, Alison had pulled her car around and heard the tail end of the conversation. "What about watching 'Cinderella,'" she asked.

Sharpay looked up at her, "It seems as though our daughters have something in common: they both like the same movie."

Alison smiled, "So you finally found someone who likes 'Cinderella?'"

Maya nodded and pointed to Larissa, "She…does."

"That's great," Alison said, happy that her daughter had seemed to make a friend. She turned to Sharpay, "She's never really had any friends…her speech always limited her from making any," she said sadly.

"I know what you mean…Larissa is very shy and well you remember how some of those girls at the preschool were like," she said, glad that they lived in another school district.

She nodded, "Yeah, I remember that." She then turned to Maya, "Are you ready to go home?"

"Can Maya come over someday and watch 'Cinderella,'" Larissa asked before Alison took Maya to the car.

She smiled, "I don't see why not," she said, looking over at Sharpay.

Sharpay nodded, "Sure, I think that would be great. We'll talk tomorrow or something." They said their goodbyes and watched as Alison drove away.

"She is really nice, mommy!" Larissa said excitedly.

"I'm glad you like her," Sharpay said as she opened the car door and buckled Larissa into her car seat. "I can tell that she likes you too."

Larissa smiled, "Really?"

"Mmm-hmm," she said as she closed the door and walked around to the other side and got into the car. "You two seem like you could be great friends," Sharpay said as she drove home.

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**All right, so no cliffhanger there, but that doesn't mean I'm ending the story, LOL. Speaking of that, I want to write a lot more of this story (it's my second favorite so far; The Additions was my favorite) and would love your input…even though I will probably keep going anyway, hehe. So how did you like this chapter? I know it was basically only Larissa/Alison/Maya and a little bit of Sharpay thrown in, but I figured I would focus on that part. :) Please let me know! And thank you for reading!**


	10. What's Wrong With Ana?

**Okay this chapter is focusing on Sharpay, Troy, and Ana. Just so you know that now. And thank you very much for all the reviews! **

**Disclaimer: Same as always!**

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_**Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 10**_

Ever since Ana had started talking, Troy and Sharpay were constantly applauding her efforts and how well she was doing. There only seemed to be one problem, however, and that was with how quietly she spoke. The doctor had told them that there was no connection between this and her autism, so this only caused the two to worry even more.

**Same Day, Other End of Town…**

Troy pulled up in front of the preschool in which Ana attended and got out of the car. He had dropped the twins off at his parents' house since Ana wasn't feeling very well and he didn't want her to get the other kids sick. He walked into the school and into her classroom. He smiled when he saw Ana trying to put a puzzle together. She had always been good at puzzles; she was very good at putting things together.

She looked up from what she was doing and saw Troy in the doorway and smiled, "Daddy," she said in her usual quiet voice. She got up and walked over to him.

"Hi sweetie," he said as he picked her up. "Have a good day today?"

She nodded her head and squirmed, wanting to get out of his arms.

Troy let her down and watched as she hurried back to her puzzle to finish it before they left. He thanked Dana. "Let's go Ana," he called to her.

She didn't answer, though. She had just put the puzzle away and so her back was turned, so she couldn't see her dad either.

"Ana," he called again, louder this time.

No answer.

"Ana!" He nearly yelled.

She turned around and smiled, seeing Troy holding her coat and lunchbox, knowing that it was time to go home. She waved goodbye to Dana and walked out of the room.

Troy was now rather concerned; this had been happening a lot at home lately. Either he or Sharpay would call Ana over to them and she wouldn't answer. She would either have to be looking at one of them or they would literally have to yell her name to get her attention. He placed her in her car seat and drove home, very concerned.

* * *

When he got home, he saw that Sharpay had beaten him even though she had gone to pick up Kayleigh and Zachary. He took Ana out of the car and brought her into the house, "We're home," he called.

Sharpay walked over to them, "Hi there," she said, kissing Troy and then Ana. "Did you have a good day sweetie?"

Ana nodded and smiled; she motioned for Troy to let her down.

He did so and then turned to Sharpay, "I think that something is wrong with her hearing," he said once Ana had walked into the family room.

Sharpay frowned, "What makes you think that?"

"Well, for one thing, how many times has she had those ear infections; and she had tubes put in a month ago; the doctor said it would help, but she doesn't seem to be responding to them…plus, her voice is just so quiet," he said, looking over at Ana who was now sitting down playing with a toy.

Sharpay looked over at Ana, "I hate to admit it, but I think you're right," she said, worry evident in her voice. "What should we do about it?"

He sighed, "I say we call an ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat doctor) and have that doctor tell us what is going on," he said as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

She nodded, "I-I guess we can do that…Troy, I don't want to have anything else for her to have difficulty with; I mean, she already has autism, what more does she need," she asked, her voice starting to shake.

He pulled her close to him, "We just have to make sure she remembers that we love her no matter what and that we will be there for her no matter what."

"I'll call the doctor and see if she knows of any good ENTs," she said, going over to the phone.

"All right."

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**Next Monday…**

Monday afternoon was the earliest that Dr. Hall, the best ENT that Ana's regular doctor (Dr. Turner) had recommended to them could see Troy and Sharpay. They waited anxiously in the waiting room. Troy was filling out the necessary paperwork and Sharpay had Ana on her lap, observing her as if she was a science experiment.

Troy walked over to her, "You're not going to find anything you know," he said, sitting down.

She looked up, "I just want to make sure we're not missing anything," she said, not looking up at him.

He sighed and just waited in silence for the nurse to call their name.

"Anastasia Bolton," the nurse said only 5 minutes later.

Troy and Sharpay stood up and followed the nurse to the exam room.

"Wait here, please. The doctor will be in shortly," she said with a small smile.

"Thank you," Sharpay said as the nurse closed the door.

A few minutes later, the door opened, this time a different woman was standing there. "Hi, I'm Dr. Hall; it's nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs…"

"Bolton," Troy finished for her.

She nodded, "Thank you; and you must be Anastasia," she said to Ana, who was fiddling with Sharpay's buttons that were on her shirt.

Ana only looked up when Sharpay turned her head towards the doctor. When she saw her, fear took over her face.

"Sorry, she's very shy around people she doesn't know," Sharpay explained.

"That's quite all right," the doctor said. "So what seems to be the trouble?"

"Well ever since Ana learned how to talk, she has always been very quiet; her speech that is," Troy explained, "And about 6 months ago she started to get these ear infections, mainly in her right ear. She had tubes put in 3 months ago, but they don't seem to be doing much since she barely responds to us when we call her unless she's looking at us or very near us," he said, hoping he wasn't talking too fast.

The doctor scribbled something down. "I see. Do you mind if I have a look at her?"

"Not at all," Sharpay said as she helped Ana to get up on to the table. She made sure to hold her hand, since Ana would start to cry from not knowing the doctor.

Dr. Hall looked in each of Ana's ears. "Well," she said once she had looked in both thoroughly, "From what I can see here, everything looks okay; I can't see what the problem might be, which is why I'd like to do a hearing test on Ana, if that is okay with the two of you of course." She looked from Sharpay to Troy.

He nodded, "If that will help you to determine what is going on, then that's fine," he said, looking over at Sharpay who nodded in agreement.

"Very good; please follow me," she said as she led them to another room. She found the headphones that were used for the hearing tests and before placing them on Ana's ears, she looked at Ana, "Ana, I am going to put these on your ears…if you hear this beep," she said as she pressed a button which generated a loud beeping sound, "Then I need you to nod or raise your hand like this," she said, showing Ana what to do. "Let's test it out, just to see if she understood what I said."

Sharpay nodded, "All right." She watched as the doctor pressed the button again. Ana quickly raised her arm in the air and smiled.

"Very good, Ana," Dr. Hall said. "Okay, time for the real test," she said as she placed the device on Ana's head. She adjusted the headphones so that they fit her just right. She then walked over to a machine and pressed several buttons; Ana's hand only went up a few times.

After seeing the doctor's face, Sharpay began to worry, "What's wrong? Why did she only raise her hand a few times," she asked, nearly frantic.

Troy placed his hands on her shoulders, "Calm down," he said quietly.

The doctor sighed, "I am going to be honest with you; the times that Ana raised her hand was when I was playing the sound in her left ear or when the sound was turned up to the second loudest level," she said, removing the headphones.

"What are you saying? That my daughter is…deaf in one ear," Sharpay asked, close to tears.

"Not completely deaf, but from what I can see from the test, she is at least 40 percent deaf in her right ear; her left ear is fine. I have a feeling it is from the ear infections she kept getting that caused this to happen," she said, looking at Troy who was now starting to look rather worried.

"So what you're saying is, if we hadn't gotten the tubes put in then…she wouldn't be able to hear in that ear at all," he asked.

She nodded, "For the most part, yes; that is what I'm saying."

"What do we do? I mean we can't just go shouting at her for the rest of her life," Sharpay said.

"I would suggest a small hearing device for her right ear; at least for her to use until she is a little older; it is quite possible that the tubes may kick in and her hearing will return to what it was, but in case it doesn't, I highly recommend doing this."

Troy took a deep breath, "So you mean her hearing may return to her?"

"If the tubes start to work, yes that is what I'm saying…" She cut herself off, "Wait a minute, I would like to look in her ear again, if I may." She looked at the two.

"Sure, I guess," Sharpay said as she wiped her eyes.

The doctor took a different instrument, one that was more powerful than the other (as far as how much light came from it) and looked in Ana's ear. "Oh dear, I think I see the problem." She looked back up at Troy and Sharpay, "When did you say these tubes were put in?"

"About 3 months ago," Troy said, "Why?"

"Well I am seeing a lot of fluid in her ear; something that shouldn't be there, especially if she has tubes in, which of course she does, but I am beginning to think that they were placed in the wrong spot," she said as she looked in her ear again.

Sharpay looked up at the doctor, "So can you fix that? I mean, can you fix the tubes so that they will be in the right place," she asked hopefully.

She nodded, "I can certainly try to, but I'm afraid that the hearing loss will only go down to 20 percent. She will definitely be able to hear a lot better after I do this, but because the fluid has been there for so long, some of it has gotten so far behind her eardrum that the tubes won't be able to help with that."

"Will she still need a hearing aid," Troy asked.

"In all likelihood, no, but don't get your hopes too high up because it could take up to three months for the tubes to really start working; and during the next three months, she will still have a hard time hearing you, which is why whenever you talk to her, make sure she is looking directly at you," the doctor explained.

"What about her speech," Sharpay asked. "Will her voice get any louder or will it stay as low as it is right now?"

The doctor looked at Ana's chart, "She has autism, am I correct?" The two nodded, "Okay well all I can think of is no, it won't. In some children who are autistic, their voices are either very loud or very soft; some children speak at a normal volume, but I am guessing that Ana falls into the category of one of the children who speaks very softly." She saw the confused faces on Troy and Sharpay, "Your doctor told you this, right?"

Troy shook his head, "No; she actually said that her voice has nothing to do with her being autistic. She said that it had to be something else, since her speech is getting better and better…wait a minute." He paused and looked at Sharpay, "Do you remember when we were first looking at what doctor to take Ana to? Remember how we couldn't agree on whether or not Dr. Barish (the speech/occupational therapist) was the best choice or not; I had read that at least half of her patients left her for someone else…I think I know why now," he said, trying to remain as calm as possible.

Sharpay's eyes grew wide, "Troy, you don't think that…it's not possible! She has been so wonderful for Ana over the last couple of years," she said, keeping the possibility that Troy was right in the back of her mind.

"It is possible, actually," Dr. Hall interjected, "I have had a few families come in here wondering if their child had a hearing problem due to either a very soft voice or loud voice their child had and it turned out to be because of the child's autism," she said.

"Oh my gosh," Sharpay said, putting her head in her hands, "I feel like a terrible person!"

Troy wrapped his arms around her, "You're far from being a terrible person," he said gently. "You're the best person I know and the best mother of our children," he said as he tried to reassure her. "Please Shar; trust me when I tell you that this isn't your fault."

She nodded, hugging him back and then picking up Ana and hugging her. "Thank you," she said softly to him.

"You welcome, mommy," Ana said, thinking Sharpay was talking to her.

The three adults broke out laughing. Ana simply shrugged and looked at them like they were nuts. "I'm sorry honey," Troy said as he took her from Sharpay, "Mommy was talking to…never mind. How does your ear feel," he asked, pointing to her ear.

"Huwts," she said as she tugged on it.

"Well that is going to change very soon, Ana," Dr. Hall said. She looked at Troy and Sharpay, "We need to schedule a time when I can fix the tubes." She took out her electronic planner and examined it. "Let's see…I can do it on Friday afternoon at the earliest," she said, looking up at the two.

"What time," Sharpay asked as she took out her planner as well.

"1:30 is the first afternoon time I have available."

She nodded, "Sounds good to me; I can leave work early that day." She looked at Troy. "How about you?"

"I can do it…the only question is, what are we going to do with the kids? Your dad is still going to be out of town on business and my parents are leaving that day for that weekend vacation."

"Um…how about we have Gabi and Ryan pick up the twins, since Kelsi is on bed rest and the last thing she needs is two more little kids running around the house," Sharpay said.

He nodded, "Sounds good to me. That just leaves Larissa."

Sharpay thought for a moment. As if a light bulb suddenly went off in her head, she said, "How about Alison?"

"Alison her teacher?"

"She's the assistant teacher," Sharpay corrected him.

He rolled his eyes, "You know what I mean. You don't think she'll be busy enough with her own daughter already?"

"I saw the two of them at school the other day and they seem to be inseparable. I don't think it'll be much of an issue. I'll ask her when I drop Larissa off at school tomorrow."

He shrugged, "Sounds good to me."

Sharpay smiled and looked at the doctor, "Okay, Friday at 1:30 sounds good."

"Great, I'll have the receptionist make the appointment."

"So um…are we all finished here," Troy asked.

She nodded, "Yes, we are done; the waiting room is down the hall and to your right…I would show you myself, but I have to put Ana's chart in her file," she explained.

Sharpay smiled, "Well thank you very much for everything," she said as she shook her hand.

"You're more than welcome; and you may want to point out to Ana's therapist that she was in fact incorrect about Ana's voice."

Sharpay nodded, "Believe me, we will."

* * *

Troy heard Sharpay breathe a sigh of relief as they walked out to the car. "I take it that you're feeling a little better now?"

"You don't know the half of it. I'm just kind of angry at the fact that Dr. Barish didn't know enough to tell us that some autistic children have loud or soft voices. Ugh, it just really irritates me," she said, stomping her foot.

"Careful, you're going to start acting like Larissa soon, with the whole foot stomping business," he said, suppressing a laugh and earning an elbow in his arm. "Ouch!"

"Well that's what you get for saying something like that," she said with a wry smile.

"Yeah, yeah; I just hope that this works," he said, looking at the little girl in his arms who was now sleeping. He carefully placed her in the car seat and he and Sharpay got into the car and drove home.

* * *

**First off: I'm not a doctor! I'm about 90 percent positive that a lot of what I wrote isn't actually true, so please don't send flames my way! Anyway, what do you think will happen after the doctor re-does the tubes in Ana's ear? And how about the other doctor who said that her extremely soft voice is because of something other than the autism? Again, that may be totally false, but I wanted to have some reason for the soft voice! Please, please, please review and if you have any suggestions, or anything, feel free to let me know! And thanks for reading!**


	11. Of Playdates and Procedures

**Thank you all so much for the reviews! It has made me want to write another chapter tonight. Granted, this one will be shorter since I'm getting really tired.**

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

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_**Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 11**_

Troy and Sharpay decided to make their Wednesday appointment with Dr. Barish one in which they would let her know that she had misled them about Ana's voice and how it had nothing to do with her autism. She was sorry, but stuck to what she had said before: Ana's soft voice had nothing to do with the autism. She blamed it on her hearing which Sharpay quickly came back with the fact that the doctor told them her hearing and voice had nothing to do with each other. All in all, it wasn't a very good session and by the end of it, Troy decided that he had enough and walked out of the room and waited for Sharpay in the waiting room.

She came out not long after he left, "You could have waited at least five more minutes," she said with a frown.

"I'm sorry; she just made me really mad. How did it make you feel when she said that Ana might have something more than autism? She said that she could have another mental handicap for goodness sakes!" He shook his head and sat back down.

Sharpay sighed, "You're right; I'm sorry…it's just that I really didn't want to be in there with her…alone. It was very weird talking to her without Ana there. She is a completely different woman."

He nodded, "So, what would you say if we were to dig out those little information packets we still have of all the other speech therapists that Dr. Turner gave us?"

"I'd say that's a great idea."

After driving home and finding the information on the other speech therapists that were highly recommended by the doctor, Troy and Sharpay finally agreed on one. They decided to call now and wait until next week to meet with Dr. Sanford. She was even more highly recommended than Dr. Barish was.

"So how are we going to tell Ana about this," Sharpay asked.

"Well to be honest I think it'll be easier than you think. Dr. Barish has been kind of distant with Ana lately; it's almost as if she's bored with her or something."

Sharpay nodded in agreement, "You're right; I never really thought about that before. Yet now that you mention it, Ana has been talking less and less in the sessions lately."

"So this shouldn't be too hard of a change for her," he said, hoping this was true.

* * *

**Friday…**

Gabi had said that she would be happy to take the twins that afternoon while Troy and Sharpay took Ana to get her tubes readjusted. Now all Sharpay had to do was ask Alison if she could take Larissa for the afternoon.

"Mommy is Ana going to be okay," Larissa asked. Sharpay and Troy had decided to tell her what was going on with Ana.

"Yes sweetie, she's going to be just fine. It may take a while to see if it works, but I have a gut feeling that it will," she said with a smile. Sharpay pulled up to the front of the school, shut the car off, and walked around to the other side and opened the back door for Larissa. She helped her get out of her car seat (booster seat) and then out of the car. "So how would you like to spend some time with Maya today," she asked as they walked into the school and towards her classroom.

Larissa's face lit up, "Really? She is going to come over today!"

"Well, no…actually daddy and I were thinking that maybe you could go over to her house."

Larissa thought about this for a moment and then smiled, "Okay! Do you think we'll get to watch 'Cinderella?'?"

Sharpay shrugged, "I don't know; it's up to her mom really." They walked into the classroom and saw Alison already there…with Maya by her side.

"Hi Maya," Larissa said, walking over to the little girl.

Maya smiled, "Hi," she said with a smile.

Alison smiled as well. Ever since Maya had met Larissa, she had been smiling a lot more. Every time the two were together, they found something to talk about; this was something that Alison never thought would happen since the doctors had all told her that Maya would never talk as she did before the accident. Yet she was talking more now than she was ever expected to. "Good morning, Larissa." She looked up at Sharpay, "How are you today?"

Sharpay smiled at the girls, "I'm fine, thank you. I actually have a favor to ask."

Alison nodded, "Okay, shoot."

"Well today Troy and I have to take our younger daughter to the doctor to get the tubes in her ear readjusted and we have a 1:30 appointment that will probably last a few hours. Is there any possible way for you to watch Larissa for only a few hours this afternoon? We'll probably be done by 4:00, 4:45 at the latest," Sharpay explained.

Alison nodded, "Sure, I don't see why not. I mean, Maya talks about Larissa all the time; and that's saying a lot for a girl who was supposedly not supposed to be able to put 3 words together…ever again."

Sharpay smiled, "And Larissa has never really had any friends before; she's always been the shy one. Maya seems to have brought her out of her shell though."

"Oh, let me give you the address…for when you pick Larissa up," Alison said as she walked over to her purse and pulled out a pen and a piece of paper. She wrote down the address and phone number. "Just call and let me know when you're on your way so that I'll be able to have her ready when you come get her."

"Sounds good," Sharpay said. "Thank you so much for doing this; I mean that." She walked over to Larissa, "Guess what."

She looked up, "What?"

"You get to go to Maya's house today."

Larissa smiled, "I do!" She started jumping up and down, but stopped when she saw several people staring at her. She smiled at Maya, "Did you hear that? I am coming to your house today!"

Maya smiled, "We…can watch… 'Cinderella,'" she said.

Larissa nodded, "Definitely."

Sharpay smiled when she saw Larissa so happy. She kissed her goodbye. "Daddy and I will pick you up later this afternoon…now be an extra good girl for Alison, okay?"

"Okay mommy." She hugged her and skipped back over to Maya.

* * *

**Doctor's Office…**

Sharpay held Ana, who looked as though something terrible was about to happen in her lap. "Everything will be just fine, honey," Sharpay said, seeing the fear in her daughter's face.

Troy smiled, "Yeah, it'll be over before you know it."

"Should we tell her about Dr. Sanford now or later," Sharpay asked.

He thought for a moment, "Now would be best, since she will probably be groggy and in a little pain after the procedure."

"Good point." She took a breath and looked at Ana, "Ana you are going to see a new speech doctor next week," Sharpay said in an attempted upbeat tone.

Ana looked at her parents, "Doctow Bawish gone," she asked, confused.

"In a way," Troy said. "You are going to meet a new doctor; her name is Dr. Sanford…I think you're going to like her," he said, remembering the phone conversation he and Sharpay had with her. She sounded like a very nice woman who really seemed to care about all of her patients.

Ana simply nodded, "Okay," she said flatly.

When the nurse called their name, Ana started to wail; she knew that something was going to happen and she did not want to have anything done to her.

"Shh, it's okay," Sharpay said as she carried the screaming 3 year old into the room.

Dr. Hall soon emerged, "I'm so glad that you guys could make it today," she said over Ana's crying. She walked up to Ana and placed her hand on Ana's forehead, "It's okay sweetie. We're just going to make it so you can hear a little better. Your ear will feel a lot better." She smiled softly.

Ana's crying soon turned into a whimper and was soon gone altogether.

Dr. Hall carried Ana over to a table and gently placed her on it. A nurse then did everything to prepare her for the procedure. **(A/N: I have no idea what they do when they insert tubes into people's ears, so I'm just going to skip the details for that)**

Troy and Sharpay stood back so that Dr. Hall could get to work.

* * *

Half an hour later, Ana looked up at her parents and smiled, but only for a moment. The pain from her ear that had been numbed was now wearing off. She sat up and started to cry, trying to grab her ear, but Troy stopped her.

"It's all right honey, I know it hurts right now," he said as he stopped her hand from going to her ear. He picked her up and held her.

"Here's the prescription for the pain medication," the doctor said as she came back into the room. "After you give her the first dose, the pain will start to wear off after about 30 minutes or so. Just don't let her pull at her ear."

Sharpay took the prescription, "Thank you very much; I really hope that her hearing gets better…when do you want her to come back?"

She thought for a moment, "Probably in about 3 weeks. That will be when her ear will start to drain, most likely." She saw Sharpay's face, "Yes it does sound disgusting, but you'll be very happy that it's doing that once you notice the results."

Troy nodded, "Thanks; we'll call to make the appointment."

They said their goodbyes and left to go drop off the prescription at the pharmacy. Since it would only take 15 minutes to fill, they decided to wait since it was only 3:45. Sharpay had told Alison that they would be done by 4:00, so 15 more minutes wasn't going to hurt anything.

"I'm going to call Alison and let her know we're on our way," Sharpay said when they walked back to the counter to see if the medicine was ready.

"All right," Troy said as he waited for the pharmacist to get the medicine and pay for it.

Sharpay took out the paper that Alison had given her that morning and dialed the number that was written on it. "Hi Alison, it's Sharpay Bolton…Oh she's fine; her ear is sore, but that is to be expected. How was Larissa…I'm so glad," she said with a smile. "Okay, well we are just now picking up the medicine at the pharmacy so we should be there in about 20 minutes or so…okay, see you then. Bye." She hung up the phone and smiled.

Troy looked over at her, "Larissa do okay?"

"Alison said that she and Maya had a great time. They played for a while and are now watching 'Cinderella.'"

He smiled, "Sounds great."

* * *

"Here it is," Sharpay said, looking at the address. "3300 East Shire Road," she said, looking up at the apartment complex. It was in a very nice part of town (nice meaning safe, not rich) and the complex looked rather welcoming as well. Troy drove around until he saw 170 East Shire Road, the actual part of the complex in which Alison resided.

"Here we are," he said as he pulled up in front of the building. He and Sharpay exited the car.

Sharpay opened the back door and got a sleeping Ana out and they walked to the door and opened it and then looked for apartment 2A. "Here it is," Sharpay whispered, not wanting to wake Ana up.

Troy knocked on the door and waited.

Alison came to the door and opened it, "Oh hi," she greeted them. "You're just in time; the movie ended about 10 minutes ago," she said as she motioned for them to come in. "Larissa, your parents are here," Alison said as she walked into another room of the not too small, not too big apartment.

Larissa ran to her parents, "Mommy!" She hugged her as best she could without waking her sister. "We had fun today…we watched our favorite movie," she said with a large smile. She moved to Troy who picked her up.

"I'm glad you two had such a nice time," he said with a smile. "Did you say thank you to Alison?"

She turned to Alison, "Thank you! Can Maya come over to my house?"

Alison smiled, "I'm sure Maya would love that, wouldn't you," she said to Maya who Alison had wheeled into the front room with her.

Maya smiled and nodded, "Yes."

"Thanks again," Sharpay said. "If you ever need to drop her off for any reason, just let us know."

Troy nodded, "Yeah, what she said."

"Well thank you very much," Alison said.

"Bye Maya," Larissa said as Sharpay and Troy made their way to the door. Larissa was still in Troy's arms.

"Bye," Maya said, waving a little.

* * *

**The Following Saturday…**

Ana's ear was healing nicely and it no longer hurt her. There was no difference with her hearing yet, but Troy and Sharpay knew that it wasn't going to happen within a week. They were told that this was going to take some time. Larissa was doing very well in school, thanks to her spirits being so high from making a new friend in Maya and her newfound relationship with Alison.

"Mama," Kayleigh said when she saw Sharpay enter her and Zachary's bedroom.

"Well, look who's awake," Sharpay said with a smile as she picked the toddler up out of her crib. "Welcome back, sleepy head." She kissed her forehead and headed downstairs.

"Hey, look who finally decided to join us," Troy said with a smile when he saw Sharpay bring Kayleigh into the family room.

"Dada!" Kayleigh managed to get down out of Sharpay's arms and walked over to Troy. "Up, dada!"

He picked her up, "Did you have a good nap?"

"Yes." She stuck her fingers in her mouth and set her head on his shoulder.

Just then the phone rang. "I'll get it," Sharpay said as she walked into the kitchen. "Hello?"

"Sharpay? It's me, Alison," Alison said, sounding rather frenzied about something.

Sharpay could hear the worry in her voice, "Alison, what's wrong? Are you okay…is Maya okay?"

"We're okay, but can…can Maya come over for a while? Please?"

"Of course," Sharpay said, sounding very concerned now. "Are you sure everything is all right?"

"It's just…something's happened," she said on the verge of tears.

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**Uh oh…cliffhanger time again! So what do you think has happened? Maya's fine, BTW, so nothing's wrong with her or Alison…so what's going on? Any suggestions and/or ideas are welcome! Thanks for reading!**


	12. Bad News, Good News Pt 1

**Many thanks for all the reviews! **

**A/N: Like I said in my A/N at the bottom of the previous chapter, both Maya and Alison are okay (physically). So they're not in danger…just wanted to let you know that!**

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

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_**Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 12**_

Sharpay sat down in a chair, "Alison, what happened?"

"I'll tell you when I drop Maya off," she said quickly. She then hung up the phone, thus worrying Sharpay even more.

Troy walked over to her, "What's going on?"

"Something's happened to Alison…or to Maya…or something like that," she said quietly. "Anyway, she's bringing Maya over here for a little while. Troy, she sounded really scared on the phone…scared and maybe a little angry." She shook her head.

He nodded, "Okay well, Maya is always welcome here, I just she knows that."

"I think she does." She sighed and placed the phone back on the hook.

10 minutes later, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Larissa called.

She was stopped by Sharpay, "Actually I'll get it. It's Maya and her mom," she said.

Larissa smiled, "I didn't know she was coming over today!"

Sharpay sighed and opened the door only to see Maya, who appeared to be just fine and in happy spirits and Alison whose face was stained with tears; it was obvious that she was trying her best to hide whatever happened from Maya. "Come on in," Sharpay said, moving out of the way so that Alison could wheel Maya inside.

"Thanks again for having her," Alison said as she brought Maya inside. She set a bag down, "That's Maya's stuff…just in case I come back late or something," she said, wiping her eyes.

Sharpay watched as Larissa brought Maya into the family room. Once she saw they were out of earshot, Sharpay led Alison into the living room, "What is going on? Did you hear something from one of her doctors?"

Alison shook her head, "No, I wish it was something like that though…my ex-husband called. He's in town."

Sharpay was confused. Why would this make Alison so upset? "Okay…" She motioned for Alison to sit down on the couch.

"I know I said that he left when he learned that Maya was handicapped and never had any intention of seeing her again, but he decided to come back; just like that." She took a deep breath. "He wants custody of Maya," she said, breaking into tears.

Sharpay was shocked, "But I thought that he wanted nothing to do with her."

She shook her head, "He doesn't; or at least he didn't. Now he's saying that I'm not taking care of her in the way that she should be taken care of. He says that he has the money to pay for physical therapy and to send her to a wonderful school that will really help her…on one condition."

"That he gets custody," Sharpay finished.

Alison nodded, "That's right. Of course I said no way; Maya's doing just fine where she is now, but he doesn't care. He's doing this to spite me, I know it."

"But you can very easily prove that he's not fit to be a father to her; I mean, didn't he leave you only a month after the accident," Sharpay asked, hoping to reassure Alison that things would work out.

"Yes, he did leave and I plan on using that against him…he has never paid child support; he claims that he just can't afford it…he is the president of his company for crying out loud!" Alison was now fuming. "I just don't understand why he would suddenly waltz back into town and do this to me…to us. When he came to the door, Maya didn't even remember him. He said that I had brainwashed her into forgetting about him."

"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard," Sharpay said, starting to become angry as well.

She nodded, "That's what I said. I told him that whenever Maya would ask where her daddy was, that I had to tell her that he just had to go away for a while and that it was just going to be the two of us. I've talked about him to her so many times though; I have shown her pictures from when she was a baby and up until the accident," she said, tears starting to come down her face again.

"So what are you planning on doing?"

She sighed, "I'm going to have a long, long talk with him…which is why I wanted to bring Maya over here. The last thing she needs is to hear her parents yelling at one another. She gets scared whenever I get mad at the car when it won't start…she's that sensitive. Hearing her parents fight will send her way over the edge." She looked over at Sharpay and wiped her eyes again, "That's why I brought her over."

Sharpay placed her hand on Alison's, "She is welcome to stay as long as she needs to; it's not like her school is out of the way," Sharpay said with a small smile.

Alison gave a small chuckle, "Thank you," she said softly. "Anyway, I should go. I told him to come by at 4:00 and it's 3:15 now." She stood up and walked into the family room where Maya and Larissa were watching a movie and chatting at the same time. Alison smiled at the sight and walked over to Maya, "Honey, mommy is going to go now, okay? I'll be back as soon as I can," she said, hugging her daughter as if she was never going to see her again.

Maya hugged her mom back. "Bye mommy," she said with a small smile. "Don't…be sad."

Alison smiled, "I'll try my best," she said, kissing the top of her head. "Be good for the Bolton's, okay?"

"Okay."

"I love you," she said as she kissed her head again.

"I love you too," Maya said.

Alison stood up and walked out of the family room and into the foyer, "Thanks again, Sharpay," she said as she opened the door.

"Anytime…please call when you know something…you know, just in case one of us has to come beat the guy for you," she said with a wink.

Alison smiled, "I'll call, don't worry." She walked to her car, got in, and drove away.

"That sounded intense," Troy said from the stairs.

"You heard it, huh?"

He shrugged, "It's kind of hard to not hear from the hallway."

Sharpay nodded, "I just hope that her ex leaves…soon."

"So do I."

* * *

**9:00 PM…**

Sharpay carried a sleeping Maya into the guest room and laid her on the bed and covered her up. She had changed her into the pajamas that Alison had provided for her. She turned on the little nightlight that was in the room and left the door opened a crack, just in case Maya woke up and needed something. Alison had yet to call and both Sharpay and Troy were starting to worry.

"Is she asleep," Troy asked when he saw Sharpay emerge from the room.

"Yeah, she fell asleep as I was carrying her upstairs." She sighed, "Troy when is Alison going to call?"

Before he could answer, the phone rang. "You want to get it," he asked as Sharpay flew past him to their room.

She picked up the phone, "Hello…oh hi Gabi…no, everything's fine…yes I'm sure…I know I do, we've just had a rather hectic day around here," Sharpay explained, not wanting to go into detail as to what was really going on. "Oh that's wonderful…no, I'll talk to him tomorrow; I know he must be exhausted…okay, I'll tell him…talk to you later…all right, bye." She hung up and looked at Troy, "Ryan got the promotion," Sharpay said with a smile.

Troy was confused, "So does that make him the president of the company, since he was already the vice-president?"

"No; he was co-vice president. There was one guy above him, other than the president and that guy just retired and Ryan was hoping to get promoted…and he did!"

He smiled, "That's great. Anything else going on in their lives I should know about?"

"Not really, no. Just the normal stuff…Theresa has a loose tooth; Michael is doing really well with potty training…that kind of stuff."

He nodded, "Sounds great," he said.

The doorbell then rang, causing both to jump into the air. "I'll get it," Sharpay said, racing down the stairs. She opened the door, "Alison!"

Alison looked as though she had been run over by a truck. "Hi, I'm sorry I took so long," she said with a yawn.

"Don't worry about it," Sharpay said. "Come on in, please."

Alison nodded and walked into the house. "Is she asleep," she asked when she saw the empty wheelchair at the foot of the stairs.

"Yeah, they both fell asleep about 15 minutes ago," Sharpay said, leading Alison into the living room. "So what's going on, if it's not too much to ask?"

"Well I told Matt…my ex, that Maya is just fine where she is and that she has actually improved as far as her speech and thought process goes. Of course Matt just had to disagree with me and throw in the fact that I live in too small of an apartment for a girl with her physical ailments, to which I simply shot back that he didn't leave us much of a choice since there was no way I could afford to keep on living in the house we had," she said, shaking her head. "He is so full of it, you know? He then said that she should be attending a much better school than the one she's at now. I pointed out the money problem to him, to which he said that there wouldn't be a money problem if Maya goes to live with him."

Sharpay took a moment to digest all of what Alison had just said. "Did you finally convince him to leave you two alone?"

"After he talked to his lawyer and after I talked to his lawyer, I think so. His lawyer said that it was kind of pointless to pursue this since he would probably lose; after all Matt walked out on us and hasn't helped to pay for a single thing for Maya which would not bode well for him in court," Alison said, confidence returning to her voice.

"Thank goodness for that…I mean for the fact that you have…you know what I mean," Sharpay said, not wanting to dig the hole she was digging for herself any deeper.

"Don't worry, I know. And it's true, thank goodness for that little sad but true fact." She sighed, "Thanks again for watching her. How was she, by the way?"

Sharpay smiled, "Oh she and Larissa had a great time. They played, they watched a movie, they played some more…honestly the two have become the best of friends."

A smile spread across Alison's face, "That is so nice to hear. Maya's never had a real friend before Larissa; well there was one girl, but her family moved. After that she just crawled into this shell of shyness."

"I know exactly how that is; Larissa was the same way before Maya. She had no friends except for her cousin and my friend's daughter, but she is two years older than Larissa so they barely see one another," Sharpay explained.

Just then, they heard a loud thump, followed by crying. "Mommy!"

"Uh oh, that's Maya," Alison said, racing up the stairs and into the room from where the crying was coming from. She turned on the light and saw Maya sitting on the floor crying. "Oh sweetheart," she said as she picked her up and hugged her.

Sharpay stood in the doorway, "I am so sorry, I didn't even think about the fact that she might need…"

Alison shook her head, "She doesn't need guardrails or anything like that; this has happened many times before, so please don't feel responsible," she said as she calmed Maya down.

"My foot hurts," she said through her whimpering.

"Well a fall like that will…wait; did you just say your foot hurts?"

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**Yes, very short chapter, I know. I am just really tired from work, but I'll try to have another one up either later tonight or sometime tomorrow. So what do you think about Maya's foot pain? Remember, the accident caused her to be paralyzed from the waist down…so she technically can't even feel her foot…stay tuned! And thanks for reading! Ideas/suggestions are always welcome!**


	13. Bad News, Good News Pt 2

**I'm glad you all liked part 1 of this 2 part chapter. So here's part 2 of it!**

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

**A/N: As you know, I'm not a doctor, so anything I write about Maya being able to feel her foot after all this time (a year and a half) could be possible, but may also not be…I asked my mom (a nurse) about it and she said that paralysis is caused by swelling and if the swelling goes down, there's hope. And of course there are medical miracles!**

**Totally random, but I was watching "Hannah Montana" today and one of the guys in the show confessed that he loved to bake…gee, what does that remind me of? He was literally revealing a secret and he said "I-I love to bake." Then he went on to list what he loved to bake, LOL! Too funny. HSM is rubbing off on everyone!**

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_**Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 13**_

Alison placed Maya on the bed beside her. "Honey, did you just say that your foot hurts?"

Maya looked at her mom and nodded, "Uh-huh. There." She pointed to her left foot.

Alison put her hand Maya's foot, "Can you feel this?" She pressed on it.

"Yes," she said, wincing in pain.

"How about this?" She placed her hand on her right foot.

She shook her head, "No…I don't…feel any…thing," she said sadly.

Alison shook her head, "Don't worry about it, sweetie; one thing at a time, right?" Alison was beaming on the inside. If she could feel her foot, what was next? "Anyway, want to go home?"

She nodded, "Yes."

Sharpay moved out of the way so Alison could get through the door. She was in shock as well; she had never expected something like this to happen.

"Is everything all right," Troy asked, walking over to Sharpay.

"Yeah, Maya fell out of bed…she can feel her foot, Troy."

His eyes widened, "Really? That's amazing," he said with a smile.

"Yeah…but it's the only thing she can feel," she said with a sigh.

Alison placed Maya in her wheelchair. "Oops, I forgot your things honey, I'll be right back," she said.

"Okay." Maya watched as her mom walked upstairs.

"I forgot her bag," Alison said as she walked into the room.

Sharpay went and picked it up, "Her clothes from today are already in there."

"Thanks," Alison said as she left the room. This time, however, Troy and Sharpay followed her downstairs.

Sharpay smiled at Maya as she watched her bend over and touch her left foot. "Pretty cool, huh," she said with a smile.

Maya looked up and nodded.

"Thanks again," Alison said after packing everything up. "I guess that we'll see you on Monday then."

"Sounds like a deal," Troy said. "And Maya is always welcome here," he said.

She smiled, "Thanks."

Sharpay opened the door and let the two out.

* * *

**Monday Morning…**

Troy walked into Larissa and Ana's room. "Girls, time to wake up," he said gently, walking over to each of them and placing a hand on their shoulders.

"No," Larissa groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. "I don't want to wake up."

"Sorry honey, but it's Monday." Troy smiled as he helped her up.

"Fine," she said as she got out of bed and made her way to the chair in the room where Sharpay had laid out her clothes for the day.

He shook his head and suppressed a laugh as he walked over to Ana, "Come on sweetie, time to…" He stopped when he saw her ear. "Sharpay, I think you should come in here," he called to his wife.

She hurried into the room, "What's the matter?"

"Look," he said, pointing to Ana's right ear.

Sharpay looked at the green stuff that seemed to be coming out of her ear. "Oh my…what is that?"

"I don't know but I'm calling the doctor," he said as he hurried out of the room.

Sharpay helped Ana to sit up. "Does your ear hurt sweetie?"

She shook her head, "No."

"Mommy what's wrong with Ana this time," Larissa asked, annoyed that her sister was once again getting all of the attention.

Troy walked back into the room, "Okay I called Dr. Hall's office and they said that this is normal; it just means that the tubes are working and that her ear is draining," he said in one breath.

Sharpay smiled, "Finally! You're going to feel better really soon, sweetie," Sharpay said as she took a tissue and wiped her ear. **(This actually happened to one of the kids at the preschool I work at…she had tubes in her ears and when her ear started to drain, it looked really gross but her hearing has since improved and she's talking a lot more!)**

"You think she'll be okay to go to school," Troy asked as he picked out an outfit for her.

Sharpay nodded, "Yeah, she'll be fine. Just make sure to tell Dana that she'll need to watch her ear every now and then." She turned to Larissa, "And nothing is wrong with Ana, honey. She's actually getting better." She smiled when she saw the outfit on Larissa, "You know I really like that shirt. I think we did a good job yesterday," Sharpay said. She and Larissa had gone clothes shopping the day before since Larissa kept growing out of her clothes.

She smiled, finally getting some attention. "I like it too," she said, modeling it for her mom.

Sharpay was about to walk out of the room when she saw Larissa's backpack on the floor. "Here, I'll bring this downstairs," she said. She then noticed the piece of paper that was sticking out of it. "Hey, what's this," she asked as she read it. Her face lit up, "Larissa, I didn't know your class was going to put on a play!"

She shrugged, "It's dumb. Besides, I don't think I would get picked," she said, looking at her feet.

"Why do you say that," Troy asked as he helped Ana put her dress on.

"I can't sing good."

"It's 'well,'" Sharpay said.

"Whatever! I can't do it. I stink." She frowned and walked down the stairs.

Sharpay sighed, "She sounds like me before Ryan and I auditioned for our kindergarten play. I was so certain that I was going to sound lousy when I sang that when I did finally sing, I put my all into it." She smiled at the memory.

"Maybe you should tell Larissa about that," Troy offered.

She smiled, "Good idea." She was about to go downstairs when she looked at the paper again, "They're putting on…oh my gosh!"

"Hmm, I don't know that play," Troy said, earning a playful hit from Sharpay.

"No, they're doing the same play that our school did when we were in kindergarten." She showed him the paper.

He smiled, "I don't believe it; _Cinderella._ That is her favorite movie."

She nodded, "Which is why she needs to try out for this."

"But it says here that the leads will most likely go to kids who are in 2nd or 3rd grade, so Cinderella…the character anyway, is out," Troy said.

"So? She can still tryout for one of the stepsisters. It says right under the leads' ages that the stepsisters can be anywhere from age 5 ½ to 8." She smiled.

* * *

"But I can't sing," Larissa insisted.

"Oh but you sing to 'Cinderella' all the time," Sharpay said as they were driving to school.

"No I don't."

Sharpay took the CD that she had of 'Cinderella' and placed in the CD player in the car. She could hear Larissa begin to sing softly.

"A dream is a wish your heart makes  
When you're fast asleep  
In dreams you lose your heartaches  
Whatever you wish for, you keep

Have faith in your dreams and someday  
Your rainbow will come smiling thru  
No matter how your heart is grieving  
If you keep on believing  
The dream that you wish will come true."

"Honey, that was great," Sharpay said as she pulled up to the school.

Larissa smiled, "I forgot I could sing that song…but it's the only one I know," she said, pouting.

"I highly doubt that. What about the song about the prince," Sharpay asked, remembering that was the song she had sung in her kindergarten play.

Larissa undid her seatbelt and opened the door and got out of the car (she had just learned how to do all of this on her own) and waited for her mom. "I don't know that song," she said, lying. She knew it backwards and forwards, but she wasn't about to tell her mom that.

Sharpay sighed, "Well, I'm sorry to hear that, but at least you'll have 'A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes' to sing," she said with a smile.

"I guess," she said, frowning.

* * *

**After School, Auditions…**

Sharpay knew that Larissa didn't want her mom to see her audition, but she just had to sneak in and look anyway.

"Let's see, next we have Larissa Bolton," the principal said.

Larissa nervously stood up and walked up to the makeshift stage. "I-I'm going to sing 'Someday My Prince Will Come,'" she said, trying to be as brave as possible.

Sharpay almost squealed, but then remembered that she had to be very quiet, as Larissa wasn't supposed to know she was there.

Larissa cleared her throat and started to sing.

Someday my prince will come  
Someday I'll find my love  
And how thrilling that moment will be  
When the prince of my dreams comes to me  
He'll whisper I love you  
And steal a kiss or two  
Though he's far away I'll find my love someday  
Someday when my dreams come true

Someday I'll find my love  
Someone to call my own  
And I know at the moment we meat  
Or my heart will start skipping the beats  
Someday we'll say and do  
Things we've been longing to  
Though she's far away I'll find my love someday  
Someday when my dreams come true

Someday my prince will come  
Someday we'll meet again  
And away to his castle we'll go  
To be happy forever I know  
Someday when spring is here  
We'll find our love anew  
And the birds will sing and wedding bells will ring  
Someday when my dreams come true

Everyone in the room applauded. Larissa smiled and sat down, hoping she sounded all right.

"How old is she," Mrs. Grange, the director of the school's plays asked the principal.

"She's almost 6," Ms. Greene, the principal answered.

Mrs. Grange was quite surprised. A girl this young had incredible talent. "Thank you, Larissa," she said. "That was lovely."

Larissa blushed and turned to walk out of the room, since she knew her mom would be there soon.

"Good job, Larissa," Maya said from behind her.

Larissa jumped, "Thanks," she said, catching her breath. "Hey, how come you weren't in school today?"

Maya smiled and turned to her mom who was right behind her. "She was at the doctor today," Alison said. "You see Maya got some feeling back in her foot…well last night she was able to feel her leg as well," she said with a smile.

Sharpay couldn't hide any longer, since she heard all of this, "Oh there you are, Larissa!" She turned to look at Alison, "I couldn't help but to overhear what you just said! Congratulations!"

"Thank you," Alison said. "And Larissa, you have quite the singing voice. I am very impressed."

She blushed again, "Thank you."

"I would like to thank everyone for auditioning," Ms. Greene said. "We will have the final list on Friday," she said. Since only 25 people auditioned, there would be a role for everyone; what no one knew was what role they would be playing.

"You did a great job," Sharpay said, no longer able to contain her pride for her daughter.

"You heard me?" Larissa looked very angry at first, but her face soon softened and she hugged her mom. "Do you think I'll get a part?"

She nodded, "Most definitely," she said with a smile. "Would you like to go home and tell daddy?"

"Yes," she said. She turned to Maya, "Will you be here tomorrow?"

"I think…so," she said. One thing that had really changed in Maya over the past few weeks was her speech. The school's speech teacher had been working with her and the results were incredible thus far. The doctors had said that the swelling in her brain would prohibit her from ever speaking normally again, yet she was proving them wrong left and right.

Larissa smiled, "Okay, see you then." She took Sharpay's hand and they left.

* * *

"So how did you do today," Troy asked when Sharpay and Larissa got home.

"I sang good, I think."

"It's 'well,'" Sharpay and Troy said in unison.

"Whatever; I think I did okay," she said, smiling.

"That's great honey," he said.

Ana walked up to them, "Daddy, up," she said, her voice a little louder than usual. Dr. Sanford had worked with her only once so far and discovered that Ana was simply very shy and one way to conquer that was to try and raise her voice. Ever since then, Ana's voice started to get louder and to a normal volume.

He picked Ana up and looked at her ear and sighed. He grabbed a tissue. "Well I'm glad her ear is finally draining but I'm getting tired of this," he said.

"Would you rather her be in pain," Sharpay asked, checking on Kayleigh and Zachary who were playing in the family room.

"You know what I mean," he said.

"Yes, I do, but still; think of it as a blessing in disguise; like Alison not being able to afford that other school for Maya and having to send her to Larissa's. Look how close the two are now," she pointed out.

He nodded, "Touché." He paused, "Who is that singing," he asked, looking around. He looked at Larissa who was watching 'Cinderella' with Kayleigh and singing along to the song she used to audition. "Wow, she really is good," he said.

* * *

**Okay so there is part 2! I hope you liked this one. Oh, the reason I did "Someday My Prince Will Come" is because Ashley Tisdale sang it on Disney Mania 4. :) I hope you liked it! So what part do you think Larissa should get? Please review and thank you for reading!**


	14. Can Life Get Any Better? AN Too

**Thank you to all who reviewed so far! I love this story too. **

**A/N: I forgot to put in my disclaimer for the previous chapter that I don't own the songs "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" and "Someday My Prince Will Come," both from _Cinderella._**

**A/N 2: Okay in this entire story I have yet to admit to the fact that I totally forgot that Gabi got pregnant with Rob's baby! Oops, my bad. Anyway, Rob is out of the picture (he didn't want to have a baby) and Gabi is…let's say 7 months pregnant. So sorry about that! Oh, and she and Ryan are going to raise the baby as THEIRS. Ryan is just a great guy. :)**

**Disclaimer: I only own the characters I made up; everything else belongs to Disney, including the songs!**

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_**Raising Kids Is Hard To Do, Ch. 14**_

Throughout the entire week, Larissa was singing every time she got the chance to. She seemed to have caught the acting bug, since Sharpay had told her about how she starred in many school plays when she was younger.

Secretly, Sharpay was hoping that Larissa would be an actress like her; only without the whole attitude. Sharpay learned that having the 'Ice Queen' attitude was not a good way to make friends, but at the time, it was her only way of hiding the pain she and Ryan had suffered from their mother leaving them. She wasn't about to leave Troy, however.

* * *

**Friday…**

"Mommy if I don't get the part, will you be mad," Larissa asked as she and Sharpay walked into the school.

Sharpay stopped and picked Larissa up and hugged her, "Of course not, sweetie. All I want is for you to be happy. And if you don't get into this play, I won't be mad, I promise. You did your best and that is all your dad and I care about."

Larissa smiled, "Okay." She hugged her mom back. "Can we go look to see if Mrs. Grange has posted the list yet?"

"Sure, why not?" She set Larissa down and the two walked down the hall to the music room. The list would be posted right outside of it, with all of the other events that would be going on concerning the orchestra, chorus, and of course, the play.

As soon as they got there, Larissa ran to the bulletin board, "I don't see it mommy," she complained. "Where is it?"

Mrs. Grange walked out of the room and saw the two, "I haven't put it up yet," she said with a smile. "Don't worry; it'll be up at the end of the day, okay?"

Larissa nodded, "Okay…I guess."

Sharpay smiled, "I'm sorry, my daughter is just very anxious to see whether or not she made it," she explained.

Mrs. Grange looked at Larissa, remembering who she was…since Larissa wasn't in the music class yet (she would start in 1st grade), Mrs. Grange didn't know her very well. "I'm sorry, but what did you say your name was? I remember you auditioned…and did very well at that, but I don't recognize you."

"I'm Larissa…I'm only in kindergarten, so I know I won't make it." She ran down the hall towards her room.

Sharpay sighed, "I'm sorry, she's very sensitive." Before going after Larissa, Sharpay turned to face the other woman, "Kindergartners do have a chance in being in the play, right?"

"Of course! Every student, no matter what age they are has a chance; also, whoever tries out will always be in the play…it's deciding who will play who is the difficult part," Mrs. Grange explained.

Sharpay nodded, "Thank you very much." She then turned and hurried after Larissa. She found her outside her room, crying. "Sweetie, why did you run off like that," Sharpay asked as she picked the little girl up.

"I'm not old enough," she said through her sobs. "They won't let me be in the play!" She cried into Sharpay's shoulder.

"Shh, I'm sure that isn't true honey. In fact, I asked Mrs. Grange if everyone has a fair chance, and she said yes. She also said that everyone who tries out, no matter how old they are, will be in the play. It's just deciding who will play what part that is difficult," she said, repeating what Mrs. Grange had told her.

Larissa wiped her eyes and looked at her mom, "Really?"

She nodded, "Yes." She looked up and saw Alison walk into the school with Maya. "Hey, look who's here," she said, turning Larissa to face the entrance of the school.

Larissa looked up and saw Maya. Her frown immediately turned upside down and she jumped out of Sharpay's arms and hurried over to Maya, "Hi Maya!" She then looked down, "What is that thing you're wearing on your leg?"

Maya smiled and looked at her mom, since she didn't know how to explain what it was.

"It's a brace, Larissa. Since she can feel her leg now, the doctor put the brace on so that she won't move it too much, since it is still very hard for her to do and since she could hurt it if she tries to move it right away," she said, trying to make the 5 ½ year old understand.

"Uh…okay," Larissa said, not understanding any of what Alison had just said. "So…you can feel your leg but you're not allowed to move it?"

Maya nodded, "Yes…that is…what mommy…said to me."

"Well, I hate to break all of this up, but Larissa you need to get to class," Sharpay said, looking at her watch, "And I have to get to work." She walked Larissa to class.

"Mommy when you come to pick me up, will you look at the list with me?"

"Of course I will, honey." Sharpay kissed her head and quickly walked out of the room, not wanting to be late for work.

* * *

Troy walked Ana into her classroom. "Okay, here we are," he said as he walked her into the classroom.

"Daddy can stay?" Ana asked in a hopeful voice.

"No honey, I can't stay; I have to drop your brother and sister off at school too," eh said, gesturing to the toddlers that were in his arms.

Ana nodded, "Okay." She walked into the room, forgetting to give Troy a hug goodbye.

"Ana, didn't you forget something," Troy asked, remembering that he had to walk over to her to get her attention…or so he thought.

Ana turned around, hearing what her dad had just said and walked back over to him and hugged him. "Bye-bye daddy," she said.

Troy hugged her back as best he could; trying to pull himself out of the daze he was now in from Ana actually hearing him from the doorway. Her hearing was really improving. He watched her for a moment, but was soon interrupted by Zachary who was pointing to the door.

"Daddy go now," he said.

He smiled, "Yes, we can go to your school now," he said with a smile.

* * *

After school, Larissa couldn't stay still. She waited in the room for her mom to come, but instead of coloring or looking at a book, she was pacing around the room.

"Larissa, relax; your mom will be here soon," Alison said as she helped Maya with her coloring. Maya's teacher had to leave, so Alison decided to bring her into her room.

"But mommy promised that she would look at the list with me!" Larissa sat down and put her chin in her hands.

Sharpay walked to the doorway of the room, "I'm sorry I'm late," she said as she entered the room. "I had to help one of the kids with her part for the musical," she said, looking exhausted.

"Mommy!" Larissa jumped up and ran to her mom. "Can we go look now," she asked, ignoring her mom's face.

She sighed, "Sure, why not," she said half-heartedly. They walked down the hall and saw a new piece of paper hanging from the bulletin board. "Now remember honey, they said that the title role will probably go to a 2nd or 3rd grader," Sharpay said, preparing her daughter.

"I see my name!" She pointed to her name, not seeing what character it was next to.

Sharpay looked closely and her jaw dropped, "Whoa…"

Larissa looked at her mom, "What's wrong, mommy?"

"Nothing…it's just…you got the role of…" She smiled as she looked down at Larissa, "Cinderella."

Larissa squealed with delight, causing Sharpay to cringe. She was tired enough already and didn't need to hear screaming right now, even if it was happy screaming. "Why don't we go home and tell daddy," she said, picking Larissa up and kissing her head.

"Yes! He'll be really happy!"

Mrs. Grange walked over to them, "Congratulations, Larissa," she said with a smile. "You are the first kindergartner to earn the title role in a play like this," she said.

"I am?"

"Yes; normally we like to cast the older children as the leads, but when we heard your voice, well…our minds changed," she said, looking at the two.

Sharpay smiled, "She really does have the acting bug…she must have caught it from her whole extended family," she said. "My brother, sister-in-law, my husband, and I have all been in school musicals, so I guess it has rubbed off on her." She smiled at Larissa, "Congratulations, sweetheart."

"Let's go tell daddy now," she said with excitement eminent in her voice.

"Okay, let's go." Sharpay thanked Mrs. Grange and then hurried after Larissa.

* * *

Troy smiled, "You got the lead," he asked, wondering if this was really true.

"She did indeed," Sharpay said. "She's taking after us," she said with a smile.

Larissa smiled, "I get to play Cinderella, just like the movie!" She jumped around, humming to the title song of _Cinderella._

Troy watched her and then looked over at Sharpay. "Oh, I have some news too."

"And that is?"

"Ana's hearing is really starting to improve; she didn't hug me goodbye when I left her school this morning, so I called her name and she…she turned around and walked over to me and hugged me," he said with elation.

She smiled, "She did? Wow, things are happening left and right around here. What's going to happen next?"

"I don't know the answer to that, but I do know that I made a reservation at _our_ restaurant for this evening."

"You did," she said seductively as she put her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Hmm, what are we going to do with the kids?"

"I called Ryan and asked if I could use the sitter he and Gabi use for whenever they go out. So tonight, Emily is going to baby-sit for them."

She looked at him, "One person is going to sit for four children?"

He shrugged, "She's great with kids; Ryan told me so himself."

She nodded, "Okay, I guess we can go then…"

"Excellent; I have already called her and told her to be here at 5:30 so we can make the 6:00 reservation."

Sharpay glared at him, "Why do you always do that? You always call before I say 'okay.'" Her face soon softened, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He kissed her.

* * *

After giving Emily all of the necessary phone numbers, Troy and Sharpay left for Torrino's, their favorite Italian restaurant.

"This was a great idea, Troy," Sharpay said after they were seated.

"I had a feeling you'd like it. Just think of it as a little celebration of Larissa's making the play and Ana's hearing."

She frowned, "But I thought we were here for _us._"

He smiled, "We are. What I meant was, look at what a great job we have done with raising our kids. So I'm basically giving us a present by taking us out of the house for a while."

She placed her hand on his, "I like that reason to celebrate." She moved in to kiss him.

He returned the kiss, deepening it as he did. "Have I told you that I love you," he asked when they parted.

"Yes, but I don't mind hearing it again," she said seductively.

"I love you," he said softly, kissing her again.

"I love you too," she said when they broke apart. She picked up her glass of wine, "To us…and our children."

He picked up his glass as well, "To us…and our children," he repeated. They clinked glasses and drank their wine.

2 HOURS LATER…

"This has been a wonderful evening," Sharpay said as she took one more bite of her chicken parmesan.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," he said, putting his fork down. "I still can't believe Larissa got the lead," he said with a smile.

She smiled, "She's got the Bolton-Evans-Montez-Nielson genes," she said, trying not to laugh.

Troy looked at her, "How on earth did you do that? And why?"

"Well think about it: you and I were in school plays, Gabi was in plays, Ryan was, and Kelsi composes them," she said with a shrug. "Thus having Larissa inherit all of those genes; even though she's adopted."

He nodded and smiled, "Good point."

* * *

After thanking Emily, paying her, and letting her go home, Troy and Sharpay walked upstairs to check on the kids. They walked into the twins' room first. Both kids were sound asleep.

Troy tried not to laugh, "Zachary's snoring," he whispered.

"He must get that from you," Sharpay said, also trying not to laugh.

He rolled his eyes and left the door opened a crack and walked to Larissa and Ana's room. He walked inside and smiled, "Shar, listen."

She walked into the room so she was next to him and could hear Larissa humming in her sleep. "What is she humming?"

He walked closer to the nightstand that was next to her bed and picked up a CD. "I think she's humming 'Breaking Free.'"

Sharpay's eyes widened, "Where did she get this CD?"

"My guess is that Emily found it in our collection that is in the den. You know the ones we never listen to anymore?"

She smiled, "And she knows it by heart already. She has a gift, Troy." She placed her head on his shoulder and the two walked out of the room and into their own.

"Just like her mom," he said as they sat down on the bed.

"And her dad," she added, kissing him.

* * *

**Don't worry, that wasn't the end of the story! I just didn't feel like putting a cliffhanger there, since many of you don't like it when I do that…cough, cough…Crimson Tide Elephant…cough…cough. J/K. Anyway, how do you think Larissa will do? I will do my best to write more Kelsi/Jason/Katie in the next chapter, so don't worry! I haven't forgotten about them. Please feel free to give any suggestions you might have as well as a general review! And thanks for reading!**

**P.S. I just saw a commercial for the Disney Channel Games…they are coming next month so watch for Zac, Ashley, Lucas, and Vanessa! I think I saw Corbin there too.**


	15. Who's The Father?

**A/N: Okay, I figured that I would make part of the chapter dedicated to Ryan and Gabi, since I have barely put them in this story at all. I've mentioned them and that's about it. So here you go!**

**A/N 2: Oh and I screwed up again. In the previous chapter in the A/N at the beginning, I said Gabi was still pregnant…well, I'm going to say that she had the baby, like she did in "New Beginnings" and that it is a girl; Angela. Rob went away for a long, long time for what he did to Theresa and the rest is history! I'm really sorry I keep confusing you guys! Oh and Angela is 4 months old. **

**Disclaimer: I only own the characters I made up; everything else belongs to Disney.**

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_**Raising Kids Is Hard To Do, Ch. 15**_

**Saturday, Ryan and Gabi's House…**

Gabi slowly made her way to Angela's room. The little girl was crying, wanting to get out of her crib and have her mom hold her. Gabi picked her up and sat down in the rocking chair that was in the room and just held her and looked at the infant with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked so much like Ryan for some reason, even though Gabi was almost positive that Angela wasn't his. She rubbed Angela's back, thus calming her down and came to a decision. She stood up and walked out of the room, Angela still in her arms and into the kitchen where Ryan was reading the newspaper.

"I have been thinking," she said as she rocked Angela who had started to whimper again.

He looked up from the paper, "Uh oh," he said with a small smile. "That can't be good."

She rolled her eyes, "Ryan, please; I'm serious. I want to have the blood test done…today."

Ryan just looked at Gabi for a moment before saying anything, "Um, are you sure you want to do this? I mean, there a 90 percent chance that I am not Angie's father; you do know that, right?"

She nodded, "Yes, but we have been putting this off ever since…well for a long time. Please Ryan, please do this. I want to know," she said as she sat down. Apparently Angela decided she was hungry.

He sighed, "Well since it is Saturday and I don't have to go into work and you don't have to work on Saturdays anyway, I guess we could," he said. What he wasn't showing Gabi was the smile that was on the inside. He had wanted to do this ever since Angela was born, since he and Gabi had been together right around the time she got pregnant. He was glad that she finally wanted to do this.

Theresa then came downstairs and into the kitchen, "Daddy my tooth hurts," she said, tears in her eyes.

"Maybe its' loose; do you remember the last time your tooth hurt," he asked her as he motioned for her to sit on his lap.

She walked over to him and sat on his lap, "Yes, but this one really hurts! What if I have a clavity," she said.

He suppressed a laugh, "It's 'cavity' honey and I don't think that you do."

Gabi nodded in agreement, "Your dad's right. Which tooth is it anyway?"

Theresa opened her mouth and showed her parents the little baby tooth in the front row of her mouth. "It's this one," she said, pointing to the tooth on the bottom row in the center.

Ryan placed his finger on it and felt it wiggle. "It definitely loose," he said with a smile. "You are going to get a visit from the Tooth Fairy again."

She smiled, "I am? But why does it hurt so much? My teacher said that when your tooth hurts, it means you probably have a clavity."

"It's 'cavity,'" Ryan and Gabi said in unison.

"Whatever! I still think that's what it is." She crossed her arms and sat in a chair.

Ryan did his best not to grin. "Sweetie are you learning about how to take care of your teeth in school?"

She nodded, "Yes…we even had a dentist come in and talk to us yesterday."

Gabi smiled, "Well I'm no dentist, but I definitely think that you have a case of 'loose tooth-itis," she said.

Theresa made a face, "So it's not a cla…cavity?"

She shook her head, "Nope; it's just a loose tooth…Ouch, Angie careful there," Gabi said, returning her attention to the infant she was nursing. She looked up at Ryan, "I sort of already made the appointment for the test, if you don't mind."

He nodded, "That's fine; what time is it for?"

"11:30."

He looked at his watch, "Gabi that is in 40 minutes! How are we going to find a sitter in that short span of time," he asked, walking over to the coffee pot and pouring a cup of coffee.

"I sort of forgot about that part," she said, looking at the floor.

He sighed, "It's okay. We'll just take them with us." He turned to Theresa, "Have you seen your brother?"

"He's in his room…I think."

Ryan walked upstairs and into Michael's room and saw him making a tower out of cardboard blocks. He set one more block on it before the tower (which was about as tall as Michael was…2 ½ feet tall) toppled over on top of the little boy.

"Hey in there," Ryan said as he moved the blocks out of the way and picked Michael up. He looked as though he was about to start crying from the block tower falling.

"It fell down," he said, frowning.

"I can see that," Ryan said as he set Michael down on the floor. "We need to go somewhere pretty soon, so it's time to clean up anyway and get dressed," he told him.

Michael shook his head, "No, I build."

"Michael, it's time to clean up," Ryan said again, his voice a bit firmer this time.

"No!" Michael picked up a block and threw it against his bed as he was now having a temper tantrum.

Ryan picked him up and placed Michael on a little chair that was in the corner, also known as the 'cool down chair' that he and Gabi had decided to use. Michael was in the 'terrible two's' phase, and it showed. "You are going to sit here for two minutes," Ryan said firmly. "We don't throw anything in this house." Ryan walked to the doorway and waited outside of Michaels' room.

Gabi came up the stairs, "What's going on and why is Michael's room such a mess?"

"He doesn't want to clean up," Ryan said. "He is cooling off right now."

"Ryan he's stomping his feet and screaming," Gabi said as she looked at the toddler. "Maybe I should go in and talk to him."

"No," Ryan said, stopping her. "He still has one minute left. I'll take care of this; you need to get Angie dressed anyway."

She shook her head, "I still don't see why this chair is necessary," she said, becoming defensive. She still had her own way of disciplining the kids, which was barely any discipline, but ever since she and Ryan got back together, she had been doing a better job. Yet it was times like this that she never earned a gold star in.

"He needs to know it's wrong to throw toys," Ryan explained.

She looked at Michael again, "He threw a toy?"

He nodded, "That is why he's sitting there," Ryan said, looking at his watch again. "Well his time is up so I'll talk to him while you get Angie dressed. We will then leave, okay?"

"All right," she said as she walked to Angie's room.

He sighed and walked back into Michael's room. He (Michael) was now much calmer. "Michael, we're not going to throw toys; right no it is time to clean up the toys, understand?"

Michael nodded, "Okay," he said tearfully. He got up and received a hug from Ryan before cleaning up the blocks. "Daddy help," he said as he tried to put the last block up. He was too short to reach the top.

"How about this," Ryan said as he lifted Michael up and allowed Michael to place the last block up. "Hey, look at this," he said, gesturing to the now clean room. "Good job, buddy."

Michael smiled, "I did it!"

"Yes you did; now it's time to get dressed," he said as he got some clothes out of the drawers.

* * *

"This is boring," Theresa said as she sat in the chair of the waiting room.

"They'll be with us soon," Ryan said. He looked over at Gabi, "Hey, are you okay?"

She looked up from the baby to Ryan, "I'm just nervous," she said quietly.

A nurse then came through the door, "Evans?"

"That's us," Ryan said as he picked Michael up and took Theresa's hand.

Gabi stood as well and picked the carrier that held Angela in it up.

"So we are here to do a blood test, am I right," the nurse asked, looking at Gabi's chart.

"Yes, that's right," Gabi said, placing Angela and the carrier in the chair beside her. "Um, is Dr. Richards here, or will someone else be doing the test?"

"She has the day off, so I'll be doing the test, but don't worry; I have done this many times," she said with a small smile.

Ryan nodded, "Okay…so how does this work?"

"I take some of your blood and some of the baby's blood; if it is a match, then it means you are the father," she said simply.

"How long will it take to get the results," Gabi asked.

The nurse thought for a moment, "Usually an hour, sometimes less."

"I don't want to stay here," Theresa whined.

"We can go home after it's done, honey," Gabi said, looking at the nurse. "We can, can't we?"

She nodded, "Yes, you may go home after this. We will call you when we have the results." She walked out of the room to get the necessary items for the test.

* * *

"See that wasn't so bad," Gabi said to Angela as they walked into the house. Angie started crying again; she did not like having someone poke her with a needle. Then again, what 4 month old baby does like it? Gabi picked her up, "It's okay, it's all over now," she said, soothing Angie.

"And now we wait," Ryan said as he sat down on the couch in the family room.

Theresa had gone upstairs to play and Michael followed Ryan over to the couch and sat on his lap.

An hour and a half later, the phone rang. "I'll get it," Gabi called. "Hello," she answered as Ryan came into the master bedroom where Gabi was. He sat down beside her on the bed. "Yes, this is she…okay, so what are they?" A small smile came across her face, "Okay, thank you." She hung up the phone and looked at Ryan.

* * *

**Bolton Home…**

Sharpay took a tissue and wiped Ana's ear again. It was still draining, so that was a good sign, but there was so much that she started to worry. "Troy, are you sure this is normal," she asked as she finished cleaning off Ana's ear.

He sighed, "Yes, it's perfectly normal," he said…again. "I called the doctor yesterday, remember? She said that there would be a lot of draining due to the amount of fluid that is in her ear."

She nodded, "Okay." She threw the tissue away, "There, is that better sweetie?"

Ana nodded and smiled, "No mowe!"

Sharpay smiled, "That's right, no more for now anyway." She kissed Ana's head and set her down.

Kayleigh came toddling into the room, "Mama, up," she said, raising her arms in the air for Sharpay to pick her up.

"Yes ma'am," Sharpay said with a smile as she picked the little girl up. Kayleigh placed her head on Sharpay's shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Stop it, Ana!" Larissa shouted from their room.

Troy walked to the foot of the stairs and saw Larissa walk down the stairs in tears, a piece of paper in her hands. "What's wrong," he asked.

"Ana colored on my music sheet," she sobbed. "Now I will get into trouble!"

"Honey I'm sure that you can get another sheet from your teacher on Monday," Troy said, looking at the paper. There was crayon scribbled all over the front side of the paper. "Besides, she didn't mean to; where was this anyway," he asked.

"The floor," Larissa said.

"Well you need to keep track of your things; she thought it was just another piece of paper to draw on," he said, trying to reason with her.

She simply glared at the paper and stomped back up to her room and threw herself on the bed, crying.

Troy could hear her and walked upstairs and sat on her bed, "You'll get another paper from your teacher," he said gently.

"It's not that! You never make her get in trouble! Only me!" She buried her face in her pillow and cried.

* * *

**I'm back to my evil way…not one, but TWO cliffhangers, all in one chapter! Well the latter one isn't as big as the other one. So who is Angie's father? And is Larissa back to her old ways again? Please review! Suggestions are welcome. Thanks for reading!**


	16. Trouble Ahead

**A/N: Major drama ahead with Larissa, Troy, and Sharpay…**

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

* * *

**_Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 16_**

**Evans Home…**

Gabi hung up the phone and looked at Ryan, "That was the doctor's office."

He nodded, "Yeah I had a feeling it was," he said, unable to read her face. Was she smiling or frowning?

"They said that the tests came in..." She paused before continuing, "Ryan, you're the father…biologically." She smiled.

All he could do was smile at first. He really was Angela's father. Her real father. He looked up at Gabi and hugged her, "Thank you," he said quietly.

"For what," she asked, returning the hug.

"For taking the test; for coming back to us…everything," he said as he looked at her and kissed her.

She deepened the kiss. When they parted, she looked at him, "I'm glad I came back…I would have missed everything in our children's lives. I love you, Ryan."

"I love you too," he said, kissing her again.

* * *

**A Few Days Later…Bolton Residence…**

Larissa had gotten over Ana coloring all over her music, since her teacher did in fact give her another sheet on Monday. Yet she was still angry at the fact that Ana never did get into trouble for coloring on it.

She was giving her parents the silent treatment, unless they asked her a question. Other than that, she wasn't talking to them; she figured that if she did, she would just get into trouble again. She didn't understand that she really wasn't in trouble after yelling at Ana to stop coloring on her paper. Yet when Troy had talked to her, she interpreted it as him lecturing her and therefore she must be in trouble.

At dinner the same night, she accidentally dropped her glass of milk all over the dining room floor; the glass had broken and milk was everywhere. Sharpay was angry at the situation, but Larissa, being only 5 ½ years old, interpreted this as Sharpay being angry at her. Larissa sent herself to her room and cried into her pillow. She was beginning to once again feel that Troy and Sharpay didn't love her.

The next day, Monday, she was silent the entire car ride to school. She didn't want to talk to her mom; all she wanted to do was get out of the car and go into the school and into her classroom.

Sharpay walked around to the other side of the car and opened the door. Larissa was about to get out when Sharpay stopped her, "Sweetie, I need to talk to you."

Larissa crossed her arms, but listened anyway, "Fine."

She picked Larissa up and carried her over to one of the benches outside the school and sat Larissa down and then sat down beside her. She took a deep breath, "Larissa, I want you to know that your daddy and I love you more than anything and that nothing…I repeat nothing will ever change that. I know that you think I was mad at you about the milk incident, but honey, everyone spills things; and daddy was never mad at you for yelling at Ana; he just wanted you to know that Ana didn't understand what she was doing."

By now, Larissa was practically in tears. She leaned against her mom and cried, letting her emotions out for the first time in several days. "So you still love me," she asked, her crying slowing down.

Sharpay smiled and pulled her into her lap, "Of course we still love you; we never stopped loving you, honey." She hugged her and kissed her head.

"Will you and daddy come watch my first rehearsal today? It's after school." She looked up at Sharpay and gave her a small smile.

"I think that daddy would love to do that, as would I. We have to take Ana to the doctor, so we might be a few minutes late, but we'll be there, all right?" She stood up and took Larissa's hand.

Larissa stood up as well, "Okay…I guess Ana can come too."

Sharpay chuckled as they walked into the school. "Sounds good to me," she said as they reached her classroom. "Have a good day sweetie, and we'll see you this afternoon."

She nodded, "Okay mommy."

Sharpay walked out of the room, relieved that Larissa was talking again. She walked out of the school and got into her car and drove to her school.

* * *

**That Afternoon…**

Sharpay and Troy had decided that since Ana's doctor's appointment was at 2:30, that he would pick her up from school and then drive by the middle school Sharpay worked at and pick her up. They would come back for her car later. The twins were at Troy's parent's house. He pulled up in front of the school and saw Sharpay waiting for him.

"You sure like to cut things close," she said as she climbed into the car.

"What are you talking about; it's only 2:00 and it takes less than 15 minutes to get to the doctor," he said as he started driving again.

She shrugged and looked behind her and saw Ana in her car seat and smiled, "She is doing so much better; I'm glad that you suggested we do this," she said, smiling at Ana.

Troy smiled, "You know it hasn't even been the full 3 months and she's hearing so much better already; do you think that will still improve," he asked.

"I have no idea, Troy. I'm not the doctor." She paused, "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that we are going to watch Larissa rehearse today for the play. I told her that we'd be a few minutes late, so she knows that."

He nodded, "So she's talking again?"

"Thank goodness, yes. We have to be there for her Troy. She was starting to think that we don't love her, especially after what happened over the weekend."

"And we will be there for her. I'm sure that the appointment isn't going to take more than half an hour; then we can head over to the elementary school," he said, calculating the time it would take to get there from the doctor's office. "We'll probably get there at about 3:30 or so…at least that's my guess, since it takes about half an hour to get there from here," he said, parking the car.

"That sounds good to me," she said, getting out of the car. She opened the back door and got Ana out and carried her inside since Ana was on the verge of tears; she knew this building…the last time she was there, the doctor had readjusted her tubes and she was in pain.

Ana looked at the building and tears started to fill her eyes. "No mommy!" She tried to get out of Sharpay's grasp, but was unable to.

"It'll be okay sweetheart," Troy said as they walked into the waiting room. He walked to the receptionist, "Hi, Ana Bolton is here to see Dr. Hall," he said to the woman behind the desk.

She nodded, "All right, please sign in and the doctor will be with you shortly."

"Thank you," he said. He walked over to Sharpay and Ana, who was calming down; thanks to the small toy Sharpay had placed in her purse that morning.

The nurse soon came through the door, "Ana Bolton?"

Troy and Sharpay stood up, Ana now in Troy's arms since Sharpay knew that if Ana tried to escape this time, she would probably succeed…if Sharpay was holding her that is. They followed the nurse through the door and into the exam room where Ana promptly started to cry and try to escape from her dad's arms.

"Down, daddy!" She screamed, not wanting the doctor to touch her ear again.

"Shh, calm down sweetie, the doctor just wants to look at your ear today; she isn't going to do anything," he said gently, hoping to calm her down.

Unfortunately Ana had gotten so riled up that she ignored what he was saying and continued to scream.

Sharpay gestured for Troy to hand Ana to her. He did so; Sharpay took her in her arms and rubbed her back. "Ana, the doctor is not going to hurt you at all; she just wants to look at your ear and at how well you're doing." She looked at her, seeing that what she just said seemed to work.

Ana's crying slowed to a whimper and she wiped her eyes, "No huwting," she said hoarsely.

Sharpay shook her head, "No, the doctor isn't going to do anything to hurt you honey. She just wants to…" She was interrupted by the door opening.

"Good afternoon," Dr. Hall greeted the three. "How is everything going," she asked, placing Ana's chart on the little table that was next to the exam table.

"Very well actually," Troy said with a smile. "Ana's hearing is already starting to improve."

She smiled, "That is wonderful." She turned to Ana, "Hi Ana, do you remember me," she asked softly.

Ana nodded, "No huwt me," she said with a frown.

"Don't worry honey, I'm not going to hurt you; I would, however, like to look in you ear. Would you like to sit up here," she asked, gesturing the examining table.

Ana looked at her mom, "You come with."

Sharpay smiled, "I'll hold your hand, how does that sound?"

And smiled and nodded and allowed Sharpay to place her on the table. Ana then took her mom's hand and squeezed it.

Dr. Hall carefully looked in Ana's ear, using the powerful otoscope that she had used when she saw all the fluid in Ana's ear. "Wow, I wasn't expecting these results," she said as she looked up at Troy and Sharpay.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing," Troy asked nervously.

"Oh it's a very good thing, trust me," she said with a smile. "Ana's ear is draining at a much faster pace than I thought it would; but there is still a lot of draining to go."

"What would you say her hearing is at right now; do you think she has gained some of it back in that ear," Sharpay asked hopefully.

"No doubt of it; from the looks of things, I would say that her hearing in this ear has gone from 40 percent of a hearing loss to at least 30, maybe 25 even," she said with a smile.

Troy smiled, "So since her ear is still draining that means that her hearing will only improve more, right?"

She nodded, "Yes, but don't expect her hearing to ever be at 100 percent in her right ear. She'll always have a slight hearing problem, but it's not going to be as severe as it was before," she said reassuringly.

Sharpay stood up and picked up Ana, "Thank you so much for this news," she said, shaking the doctor's hand.

"It's my pleasure," she said. "I would like to make another appointment for a month from now, just to see if there is anymore progress, which I am sure there will be."

Troy nodded, "All right, we'll figure something out. Thanks again," he said, shaking her hand.

"You're quite welcome. Just go and see the receptionist and let her know what day and time is good for you and she'll check to see if I am available that day; I'd check, but I have another patient."

"That's okay, we'll do that right now," Sharpay said. "Thanks again." She picked up Ana, who was no longer crying and followed Troy out to the waiting room. They made another appointment to see the doctor in a month. "Okay," Sharpay said once they were done, "Let's head on over to Larissa's school. It's already 2:50. I don't want to be too late," Sharpay said.

"Don't worry, we'll get there," Troy said as they walked out to the car.

Sharpay placed Ana in her car seat and then got into the car. "Let's go," she said as she put on her seatbelt. **(Can you tell that I'm stressing car safety here, LOL…I was in a bad car accident in 1999 and my seatbelt saved my life…wasn't my fault though! Okay, enough about that, back to the story)**

* * *

**The School…**

Larissa walked into the auditorium nervously. She had seen the other kids who were in the show and many of them were in 2nd and 3rd grade. There were a few 1st graders as well as kindergartners that were in the show, but she also saw a couple of 5th graders. She made her way to the front, afraid to sit near anyone; she was sure that someone was going to either make fun of her or be mean to her about how she was only in kindergarten and got the starring role.

A taller girl walked over to her, "Hi is anyone sitting here," she asked, pointing to the seat next to Larissa.

"No," she said quietly. The girl looked like she was in 4th or 5th grade.

"Thanks," she said as she sat down. "I'm Alexis, by the way; I'm playing the evil stepmother," she said with a smile. "Who are you playing?"

"Um, Cinderella," Larissa said quietly.

The girl just looked at her in shock for a moment, "Wow, you're the kindergartner who is playing her?" Larissa nodded. "Very cool," she said with a smile.

Larissa smiled in relief. "I'm Larissa," she finally said.

"Nice to meet you…oh and if you ever need help with reading your lines, just ask me," Alexis said.

She nodded, "Okay, thank you." She smiled and then looked behind her to see if her parents were there yet; they weren't. Larissa didn't panic though; her mom did say that they would be a few minutes late. She looked again and saw Maya this time. She smiled and waved.

Maya waved back, "Hi," she said quietly. Larissa couldn't hear her, but could tell what she said.

Mrs. Grange stepped onto the stage, "All right everyone let's settle down now. We are going to start rehearsals for Cinderella at this time," she said with a smile.

Larissa smiled to herself and looked at the other kids around her. They were all wearing nametags. A woman soon came over to her and Alexis and placed nametags on them that said their name and what role they were playing. "They spelled my name wrong," Larissa said. "It should have two S's, not one and it should only have one R not two."

Alexis tried not to laugh, "Don't worry; last year, they got my entire name wrong, even in the program. But don't worry, just tell them after rehearsal is over and they'll fix it."

She smiled, "Okay."

"All right everyone, why don't we start by introducing ourselves and who we are playing," Mrs. Grange said.

Larissa looked behind her once more; her parents still weren't there. "Where are they," she whispered to herself.

* * *

**In The Car…**

They drove for a while in silence; Troy was watching the road, Sharpay was thinking about how proud she was of both Larissa and Ana, and Ana was sleeping in her car seat.

Finally, Sharpay decided to break the silence, "This is so exciting. Two good things are going on in one day," she said to Troy.

He nodded, "I couldn't agree more."

"How much longer do we have until we get to the school," Sharpay asked.

He shrugged, "About 10 minutes, maybe less," he said. He then felt the car start to slow down considerably. He pulled over to the side of the road just in time for the car to completely lose power. "Or more," he said with a sigh.

* * *

**School…**

Larissa looked up from the paper she had in her hands to see if her parents were there yet. Nope. She sighed and began to think that they had forgotten. She then looked down at the page again and tried to concentrate as best she could.

"Larissa, it's your line," Jenny, one of the evil stepsisters said.

Larissa looked at her paper and stumbled over the line, almost giving up. Alexis walked over and helped her through it. "Thank you," Larissa said once the line was said.

Alexis smiled and then got back into character, which just happened to be the stepmother yelling at Cinderella.

* * *

**Car…**

Troy turned the key again and again, but the car would not start.

Sharpay sighed, "Great, now what are we going to do? Not only are we going to miss Larissa's rehearsal, but we're stuck!"

"I'm sure that it's just flooded or something," Troy said, trying to start the car again. "Okay I'm going to call a tow truck," he said after the car still didn't start. He dialed a number and put the phone to his ear. "Hello, my car broke down and we're going to need a tow truck," he said into the phone. "We're on Brooks Road…it's going to take how long!" He sighed, "No, that's fine; just get here as soon as you can." He hung up the phone and looked at Sharpay. "They said 20 minutes."

"20 minutes? But how is that possible? It's not like we're in the middle of the desert." She grabbed the phone and called AAA. "Yes hello, my husband's car broke down and we're going to need some help…yes, we are members…Brooks Road…thank you," she said as she hung up. "AAA said 5 minutes. Did you forget that we're members or something?"

He shrugged, "Well whichever way it is, Larissa is still going to be pretty mad at us."

* * *

**School...**

Rehearsal had finished and Larissa had yet to spot her parents. She walked out of the auditorium to see if they were in the hall calming Ana down or coming out of the bathroom, but they were nowhere to be found. She could feel tears starting to fall down her face. Soon she was sitting by the door of the auditorium, crying. Her parents had missed her rehearsal. Sharpay promised that she and Troy would be there. They really didn't love her; at least that is what Larissa thought.

* * *

**Uh oh…sorry Crimson Tide Elephant, I'm doing it to you again, LOL. So what is Larissa going to do? Oh, and I have to thank whalegaldragoness for the general idea for what is happening right now in the story. Thank you! Please review, and remember suggestions and ideas are welcome as are general comments! Thanks for reading!**


	17. Family Matters

**All right, before I go into what just happened, I am putting some Jason/Kelsi into the story again. I'm sorry for leaving them out so much!**

**P.S. This chapter is for Lipshake who wanted more Jason/Kelsi. **

**Disclaimer: Same as always…**

* * *

**Cross Home…**

Kelsi was now 7 ½ months pregnant and still on complete bed rest. She had been having several Braxton-Hicks contractions and the doctor wasn't about to risk the baby's life or Kelsi's for that matter, so she commanded that she stay in bed except for when she had to go to the bathroom. This was starting irritate Katie, since she wanted to spend more time with her mom. Yet she was only allowed to talk to her for a little while at a time since Kelsi needed all the rest she could get and stay stress-free. Katie's jealousy of not being able to be with her mom was really starting to get to her and it was starting to show.

"Can we go say hi to mommy," Katie asked as she and Jason got out of the car and walked into the house. Jason had just picked her up from school.

"You can say hi to her, but if she's asleep, you are going to have to wait until she wakes up; you do remember what we talked about, right," Jason said firmly. He was now very protective of Kelsi, mainly for the sake of her health and the baby's health.

She nodded, "I know daddy." She hurried upstairs and walked into her parent's room. She walked over to the bed and saw that Kelsi was sleeping. "Darn," she said to herself. She looked around, not seeing her dad anywhere and tapped on Kelsi's arm. "Mommy, wake up," she said quietly. When Kelsi didn't respond, Katie tried again, "Mommy, it's time to wake up," she said a little louder. Kelsi groaned, but didn't open her eyes. "MOMMY!" Katie yelled.

Kelsi bolted up and looked around, "What? What's wrong…did something happen?"

Katie smiled, "No mommy, it's just me. You need to wake up now, I'm home from school," she said as she smiled innocently.

She shook her head, "Honey, I am really happy to see you, but I really need to…whoa…"

Jason walked into the room after hearing Katie's yell. "Young lady what did we just talk about?" He then looked up at Kelsi, who seemed to be in extreme pain. "Kels? Honey what's wrong," he asked, running to her side.

"Contraction," she said through the pain. She tried her best to breathe and stay calm until it passed. When it did, she lay back down and took a deep breath.

Jason took her hand, "It's okay, I'm here," he said gently.

She nodded, "It's gone now," Kelsi said, still breathing heavily. "I just need more sleep," she said as she closed her eyes.

Jason kissed her head and covered her up. He then turned his attention to Katie who was cowering on the other side of the room. "Your room. Now," he said even more sternly than before.

Katie did as she was told and went into her room, her dad close behind.

"Sit down please," he said, trying to stay as calm as possible. She sat down on her bed and Jason sat down beside her. "What did I just tell you about waking your mom up?"

"You said not to," she said quietly.

"That's right; Katie did you see what happened just now?" She nodded. "That is why we don't wake up mommy when she is sleeping. I don't want to ever hear you yell like that again, do you understand?"

She nodded, "Yes," she said as she looked at the floor.

He sighed, "I'm sorry I got angry, but your mom is in such a delicate state right now. We can't take any risks."

She looked up at him, "Is she going to be okay?"

"Yes, she'll be all right, but if she keeps getting stressed out or awakened like that, she could go into labor and they baby isn't ready to come yet," he explained.

Katie wiped the tears that were now falling down her face, "I'm sorry daddy; I didn't mean to make her hurt."

He pulled her close to him and hugged her, "I know you didn't sweetheart, and so does mommy."

"Okay," she said quietly.

He smiled softly and kissed her head. "I have to go start dinner; why don't you start your homework?"

She nodded, "Okay daddy."

"Okay." He kissed her head again and walked out of the room and down the stairs.

Once he was gone, Katie slowly got off her bed and took out her homework. She had to write four sentences on what she loved the most about her family. She decided to do her math homework first, since she didn't exactly love her mom right now and her dad wasn't showing much love to her. She pulled out her math homework and started working on the addition problems.

Once she finished that (she was a math wiz), she took out the English assignment again and looked at it and started to write about why she didn't love her family.

Jason came up the stairs a few minutes later and walked into Katie's room, "How's the homework coming?"

She shrugged, "I did my math homework," she said flatly.

He looked at the piece of paper containing the math problems, "Very good," he said with a smile. He set it back down and looked at what she was working on now. "You have to write about what you love the most about your family?" He smiled a little, "What do you have written so far?"

She showed him the paper she was writing on.

He read it, his smile quickly fading. "Katie, what is this? Why did you say that mommy is too busy to love you anymore and that daddy is too busy yelling at you to love you anymore?"

"Because it's true," she said dryly. She took the paper back from him and continued to write, tears starting to come to her eyes.

Jason watched as her tears fell on to the paper. "Hey, come here," he said gently.

She got up and walked over to him, "What?"

He simply pulled her into a hug. "Sweetheart, what you're writing…you know it's not true; we love you very much." He could feel her body start to shake as she started to cry softly.

"But you're always yelling at me," she said, wiping her eyes.

"And I'm sorry for that…but you haven't exactly been listening to us lately; I know I shouldn't have yelled at you, but I got scared. I'll do my best to keep my voice at a normal level and not yell, but you have got to promise me that you'll listen from now on," he said, his arms still around her.

"I will," she said.

"Jason!" Kelsi yelled from the other room.

Jason stood up, "I'll be right back," he said.

Katie got up as well and followed him.

Jason hurried over to Kelsi, "What's wrong?"

"Contraction…water…it broke," she said through the contraction. "The baby's…coming."

Jason's eyes went wide, "Okay, let's get you to the hospital." He grabbed the bag that Kelsi had packed after she was summoned to stay in bed, just in case this happened.

Katie watched as her dad helped her mom get out of bed. "Mommy are you okay," she asked, rather worried.

Kelsi didn't answer since she was in too much pain.

Jason looked over at Katie, "She'll be all right sweetheart." He helped Kelsi down the stairs, through the house, and into the garage where he helped her into the car. "I'll be right back; I need to get Katie."

Kelsi nodded, "Hurry!"

He ran back into the house and saw Katie standing by the stairs, "Come on honey, we need to get going." He grabbed her hand and led her to the car, walked around to the other side and got in and drove to the hospital as fast as he could without getting a ticket.

* * *

**Larissa's School…**

Troy, Sharpay, and Ana were able to get a ride to the school. They hurried over to the auditorium and saw Larissa sitting by the door, crying. Since Sharpay was holding Ana, who was still sleeping, Troy walked over to Larissa and picked her up.

"Larissa, I'm so sorry we weren't here for your rehearsal," he said as he tried to calm her down.

She squirmed out of his arms and sat back down on the floor, "Go away," she sniffled.

"Honey we had car trouble, that's why we missed rehearsal," Sharpay said as she walked over to Larissa. "You know that we would never miss it on purpose."

She looked up at her parents, "Really?" She stood up and wiped her eyes.

"Yes, really," Troy said. He picked her up again and hugged her. "We are very proud of you and the fact that you're in the play." He would have said more, but his cell phone started to ring. He set Larissa down and pulled his phone out, "Hello…mom slow down what's the matter…okay where are you?" Troy started pacing back and forth. "Yeah, we'll be there as soon as we can." He hung up the phone and looked at Sharpay who looked very worried. "Zachary is running a fever of 104.6," he said.

"What are we still standing here for? Let's go," she said, starting to panic. The kids had been sick before, but none of them had run that high of a fever. "Where are they," Sharpay asked as they walked to the door.

"My parents took them to the hospital," he said as he took out the keys to the car that AAA had rented to them. They said they were going to leave the car outside of the school, which they did.

Sharpay quickly strapped Ana into her car seat (which was taken out of Troy's car) and got into the car. Larissa fumbled around for a minute, trying to buckle her seatbelt.

"Mommy I can't do it," Larissa said.

Sharpay got out of the car and helped Larissa and got back in. "Let's go," she said to Troy.

He started the car and hurried to the hospital.

Once there, he pulled up to the entrance of the ER. "I'm going to go park the car; you guys get out here," he said quickly.

"Come on, let's go," Sharpay said as she helped Larissa out of the car. She got Ana out and walked into the ER. She saw Troy's dad sitting down, waiting for them. "Where is he," she asked, staying as calm as possible.

"The first room on your left," Jack said. Sharpay handed Ana to Jack and walked into the room. Larissa started to follow her, but was stopped by Jack, "I'm sorry sweetie, you can't go in there; adults only," he said gently.

"But Zachary isn't an adult," she said, stomping her foot. She sat down across the room from Jack and Ana.

Troy soon walked into the ER and spotted his dad, "Where are they?"

"First room to your left," Jack said. He watched as Troy hurried towards the room.

"Breathe, just breathe," Jason said as he walked Kelsi into the ER. "You'll get through this one," he said, coaching her as best he could.

"Daddy why is Larissa here," Katie asked, emerging from behind Jason.

"I'm not sure honey," he said as they walked to the woman at the desk, "My wife is in labor, she needs to get up to the Maternity Ward right now," he said.

The woman nodded, "I will call up there; please to sit down for the time being," she said.

"I'm in labor!" Kelsi yelled at the woman.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but you're going to have to wait; something happened to the sprinkler system and everything is messed up on the floor; therefore you are going to have to wait." She pointed to the waiting room chairs.

Kelsi let out an exasperated sigh and followed Jason to the chairs. "This is ridiculous!"

Sharpay emerged from the room and walked back out to the waiting room, "He has…Jason, Kelsi what are you two doing here?"

Jason motioned to Kelsi, "She's in labor," he said as he rubbed Kelsi's back.

"Wow…but aren't you due in…"

"December," Kelsi finished. "Yes, I am due in two months, but this baby is coming now," she said in pain.

Sharpay nodded, "Well I'd spend more time talking to you two, but Zachary's really sick." She hurried over to Jack, "He has pneumonia."

Jack nodded, "That's what we were thinking when he started coughing as hard as he was. It wasn't until we noticed that he had a hard time breathing that we brought him in," he said.

Sharpay nodded, "I'm going to go back in there…wait, where's Larissa?"

Jack pointed to the other side of the room, "I think she's angry that she couldn't go into the room with you."

She walked over to Larissa, "I'm sorry that you can't come into the room sweetie."

"I want to be with him too though." She looked up at her mom. "Why am I always left out?"

"We're not leaving you out honey; Kayleigh isn't even allowed to go in. That's why she is sitting with Grandpa Jack (Heh, I had a great-grandfather named Jack) over there." She pointed to Jack who had Kayleigh in his lap and Ana in the chair next to him.

Troy emerged from the room, "Shar, can you come back here please?"

She nodded and turned to Larissa, "I have to go see your brother; I'll tell him how much you love him, all right?"

She nodded, "Okay…mommy?"

Sharpay turned around, "What?"

"Will you still come to a rehearsal, please?"

Sharpay smiled, "Of course I will." She kissed Larissa's head and walked into the room where Zachary was. She nearly fainted when she saw the breathing machine he was hooked up to. "He wasn't hooked up to that before," she said, holding on to Troy so she wouldn't fall over.

"He is having a lot of trouble breathing due to the pneumonia," the doctor explained. "The machine isn't breathing for him, it is just oxygen that is helping him to breathe," he said.

"Is he going to have to stay here," Sharpay asked shakily.

"We'd like to admit him up to the pediatric wing for a couple of days, just to make sure the antibiotic we've put him on starts working."

Troy took a deep breath, "But will he be all right? I mean, will he fully recover?"

"Yes, but it will take some time for the cough to go away; other than that, his fever will go down, and the pneumonia will hopefully go away within a week or two."

Sharpay sat down in the chair that was next to the bed, "Hey sweetie, it's mommy," she said to Zachary who was sleeping. She could feel tears in her eyes. "You're going to be just fine." Just then, he started to have a coughing fit.

The doctor walked to where Sharpay was standing. She quickly moved out of the way and watched as the doctor turned Zachary on his side so that he wouldn't swallow any of the mucus he was coughing up. Zachary soon woke up and started to cry. He looked up at Troy and Sharpay and reached up for them.

Troy knelt down beside Zachary, "It's okay buddy; you're going to be fine." Troy put a hand through the toddler's hair as he calmed down.

Sharpay walked to the other side of Zachary, "Larissa wanted me to tell you that she loves you; so do Kayleigh and Ana." She smiled as a small smile appeared on his face.

"Since he is now stable, we need to move him up to the pediatric wing; if you'd like to come, that is fine…and you may bring your family this time," the doctor said as he got an orderly to bring a gurney into the room. He carefully placed Zachary on it. "Okay, let's go."

Troy stayed back, "I'll go tell everyone," he said. Troy walked over to Larissa and Ana who were now sitting together. "Zachary is going to have to stay here for a few days. Do you two want to come and-"

"Get a doctor here right now!" Jason yelled. Kelsi had started to bleed and was close to passing out.

"I'll be right back," Troy said to Ana and Larissa. He ran to a doctor that had just come out of the elevator, "You need to help my friend; she's in labor and no one has helped her yet," he said as he brought the doctor to the waiting room. He looked at Jason, "I'd stay with you guys, but I need to get upstairs."

Jason nodded as the doctor called an orderly over to put Kelsi on a gurney. "I understand; I hope that Zachary's going to be all right," he said as he took Kelsi's hand.

Troy nodded, "Thanks. Good luck, Kelsi," Troy said, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Thank you," she said weakly.

Troy then walked back over to Larissa and Ana, "Come on, let's go upstairs." He looked over at his parents and Kayleigh, "We're going upstairs."

Cindy nodded, "We're coming with you," she said as she and Jack stood up. Jack handed Kayleigh to Troy.

They walked into the elevator and went up to the pediatric wing.

IN THE ER…

The doctor examined Kelsi, "All right, the reason that you are bleeding is because you're at 10 centimeters and the baby is ready to come out now," the doctor explained. "I'm going to need you to push, Kelsi." The doctor looked at Jason, "I'm going to need you to count to ten for her."

Jason helped Kelsi to sit up. He grabbed her hand, "Okay honey, you need to push; I'll count to ten." Kelsi nodded as Jason started to count, "Ready? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!"

Kelsi pushed as hard as she could, screaming all the way through it. She sat back as soon as Jason got to ten.

"The baby is crowning," the doctor said. "One more push Kelsi; you can do it."

"No," she said weakly, "I can't."

"Mommy you have to!" Katie said, walking over to where Jason was standing. "My brother or sister needs to come out now."

Kelsi smiled at Katie, "Okay, I'm ready." As Jason counted again, Kelsi pushed as hard as she could.

Soon after, they heard a loud cry. Jason's eyes moistened with tears of joy. "You did it," he said quietly.

She smiled at Katie, "Katie helped me," she said, kissing her head. She looked at the doctor, "Is my baby okay," she asked as he handed the baby to the nurse. The nurse scribbled something down and handed it to the doctor.

He smiled, "Your baby is just fine for a baby who came two months early. Your baby girl is 5 pounds, 6 ounces," he said.

Katie smiled, "Did you say girl?"

The doctor nodded, "Yes, I did say 'girl,'" he said with a smile. "You have a baby sister."

Katie smiled, "Yes!"

Jason and Kelsi just looked at each other and smiled.

"We're taking you up to the Maternity Ward now, ma'am," the nurse said. "We called your OB/GYN and she said that she got stuck in traffic, but that she's on her way."

"What about our daughter," Kelsi asked as she was wheeled away from her baby.

"You will be reunited upstairs," the nurse said with a smile.

Jason nodded, "Thank you."

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**That was for you, Lipshake. I hope you liked the Jason/Kelsi? Anyway, now I need names for the baby! If you can think of a first and a middle name, that would be great. I have one in mind, but would love to hear your ideas. Thanks for reading!**


	18. Madison and Zachary

**Hello, me again, LOL. I know, 3 chapters in one day…this is what happens when you have nothing to do on a Sunday. LOL. But I make the most of it. **

**A/N: Thank you to all who contributed names! I have picked one; I hope you all like it!**

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

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_**Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 18**_

**Kelsi and Jason…**

Kelsi had been moved to a private room on the maternity ward. The doctors had decided to keep her a few extra days since she delivered her baby 2 months early. Katie was very happy that she had a baby sister; she would have been happy with a brother, but with a sister she knew that she would be able to share special secrets with and play with the same kind of toys. Jason was just happy that both the baby and Kelsi were all right. He was also quite happy that they had a daughter; even though he was still the only guy in the family.

"How are we doing, Kelsi," her doctor asked as she came into the room.

"I'm fine…but when can we see our baby? I only saw her once since we got up here and that was through a window. Can you have someone bring her in," she asked.

"I'll see what I can do," her doctor said.

"Thank you," Jason said as the doctor left the room.

Katie walked over to her mom, "What is my sister's name?"

Kelsi smiled, "We have an idea, but we want your sister here first so she can hear her name as well."

Jason nodded, "Yep; we wouldn't want your sister to not know her name."

Katie looked at the door and saw a nurse wheeling a baby towards them. "Mommy! It's her!" Katie started to do a happy dance. **(How cute would that be; to see a 7 year old doing a happy dance?)**

The nurse who brought the baby in smiled, "I take it that you're excited to see your sister," she said.

Katie nodded, "Yep! Mommy and daddy are going to tell me her name as soon as mommy can hold her."

Kelsi smiled at Katie. She knew immediately that she was going to be a very helpful big sister.

The nurse carefully picked the baby up and carried her over to Kelsi and Jason. "Here we are little one. From what I hear, you aren't going to be called 'Baby Cross' after you leave this room," she said to the baby who had just opened her eyes and was looking around the room.

Kelsi held her arms out as the nurse placed her into Kelsi's arms. "When should I start nursing," she asked.

"Normally mothers begin nursing their babies during the first time they really get to hold them, which would be now. But you can wait a little while if you'd like." She smiled and left the three to visit with the newest member of their family.

"She has your eyes," Kelsi said.

"And your nose," Jason said.

Katie looked at her, "I wish she looked like me too," she said sadly. Katie knew that she was adopted, and she was normally fine with it; except for this moment.

Jason smiled softly, "Well, look at her hair. What color do you see?"

"Black hair," Katie said. "What about it?"

"Well what color is your hair," Kelsi asked with a smile.

Katie thought for a moment and then understood what her parents were getting at. She grinned from ear to ear, "We both have black hair! My sister kind of looks like me!" She did another happy dance.

Jason chuckled and then looked back at the baby who was now staring at her parents. "You have a very happy sister, you know that?"

Katie stopped dancing and walked over to her parents, "So what's her name?"

Before Kelsi and Jason could tell her, they heard a knock at the door. "Can I come in," the person asked.

Kelsi smiled widely, "Gabi! Sharpay!" Her face then turned to confusion, "Wait a minute, I knew that Sharpay knew I had the baby but how did you know, Gabi?"

"A little birdie told me," she said with a smile. "When Sharpay called to tell us about Zachary, she happened to mention that you guys were in the hospital too, so Ryan and I had to come by to see both you guys and of course Zachary," Gabi explained. She looked at the baby, "She's gorgeous; she has Jason's eyes and Kelsi's nose," she aid to Sharpay.

Sharpay looked from Jason to Kelsi to the baby, "I agree," she said with a smile.

"But she has _my _hair," Katie jumped in.

Both Sharpay and Gabi laughed, "That she does," Gabi said. "You must be very excited, Katie. You're a big sister now, just like Theresa."

Katie smiled, "I'm going to teach her everything!"

Sharpay smiled and then turned to Jason, "So have you guys named her yet?"

"Well yes, but you guys walked in before we could tell Katie," Kelsi said.

"I'm sorry," Gabi said feeling embarrassed.

"No, don't be," Jason said. "This way you guys can tell everyone else."

"All right," Sharpay said.

Kelsi cleared her throat, "Katie, Sharpay, and Gabi, Jason and I would like you to meet…Madison Elizabeth Cross."

Sharpay smiled, "That is a beautiful name."

"I love it," Gabi said. "She looks like a Madison."

Jason smiled, "Thanks. Her middle name is actually for my mom," he said with a sniffle. Jason's mom had passed away a few years ago from a long hard battle with cancer.

Sharpay smiled sadly, "That's a wonderful way to honor her, Jason," she said as she walked over to him and hugged him.

"Thank you," he said. He cleared his throat, "So how is Zachary doing?"

"Well he's responding well to the antibiotic that the doctor gave him, but they still want to keep him a couple of nights because of his cough."

Kelsi nodded, "How about Larissa? Is she still angry about what happened?"

Sharpay shrugged, "Yes and no. She's mad that we missed her rehearsal, but at the same time she finally understands that it wasn't our fault that we missed it."

The nurse walked back into the room, "I'm sorry to disturb you all, but now is a good time to nurse the baby."

"And now is a good time for us to go," Gabi said as she gave Kelsi a hug; or tried to anyway. She then walked over to Jason and hugged him.

"Yeah, I should get back to Troy and the kids," Sharpay said. She hugged everyone as well and she and Gabi left the room.

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**Pediatric Wing…**

"Daddy when is mommy coming back," Larissa asked as she walked over to him.

Troy sighed, "She'll be back soon honey." He looked at Ana who was lying down in the bed on the other side of the room. She was sleeping; Troy had suggested that she, Larissa, and Kayleigh go with his parents, but all three kids protested, so they came to a negotiation: the kids would be able to stay until 8:00 that evening. It was currently 7:30. Jack said that he would come pick the kids up since Sharpay's car was still at the school **(Remember Troy picked Sharpay up to go to the doctor)** and Troy's car was in the shop, leaving them with one rental car.

Zachary woke up and started to cough again. He opened his eyes and started crying, reaching for Troy, who was holding a sleeping Kayleigh. Yet she soon woke up and started to cry as well. "It's okay," he said as he rubbed her back.

"Zachwy," she said, reaching over to him.

Troy smiled a little; he could tell that the twins' connection was once again kicking in. "I'm sorry sweetie, but Zachary is sick and we don't want you to get sick too," he said, holding her at a safe distance from Zachary.

Sharpay then walked into the room, "I'm back, but Ryan and Gabi had to leave to let the sitter go home, since it is a school night." She walked over to Zachary who was starting to calm down, "How are you feeling honey?" She kissed his forehead.

"How is Kelsi doing," Troy asked.

"She's doing great. The baby's name is Madison Elizabeth Cross." She smiled.

"Mommy I'm tired," Larissa said as she walked up to Sharpay.

Sharpay picked Larissa up, "Well Grandpa is going to be here soon to take you, Ana, and Kayleigh home since daddy and I are going to be here for a while."

"Who's taking me to school tomorrow," she asked with a yawn.

"Grandma or Grandpa will. Don't worry about it honey." She kissed her head.

"Yeah, you have nothing to worry about," Jack said from the doorway.

"Grandpa!" Larissa squiggled out of Sharpay's arms and walked over to her grandfather. "I'm tired."

He picked her up, "Well we're going to go home so you can get some sleep, okay?"

She nodded, "Okay."

"Thanks for taking them home, dad," Troy said. He walked over to Ana who was still asleep. "I'll walk down to the car with you."

Sharpay kissed all three girls goodnight, "Thanks again for taking them," she said as she hugged Jack.

"It's no problem; we are happy to watch them." He hugged her back and walked with Troy down to the car.

Once all three kids were in the car, Troy gave his dad a hug, "Thank you for all your help."

"I'll see you tomorrow," Jack said as he got into the car and drove to the house. Since the kids had school the next day, Jack and Cindy had picked up some clothes from Troy and Sharpay's house to bring to their house, along with a few other things.

Troy watched as his dad drove away and walked back into the hospital and up to the pediatric ward. When he walked into the room, he saw that Sharpay had fallen asleep in the chair next to Zachary's bed. He smiled and helped her up and gently walked her over to the other bed and helped her to lie down so she could get some sleep. He then sat in the chair and watched as Zachary started to fall asleep, coughing every now and then. "Don't worry, you'll get better soon," Troy said softly, hoping that Zachary really would get better soon…

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**Okay so that was barely a cliffhanger. I'm really tired, hence the shorter chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it! And I hope you like the name I chose. Thank you for all your ideas! Please review and thanks for reading!**


	19. The Drama Begins

**Thanks for all the reviews! I truly appreciate them and BarlowGirlie I got the name ideas from everyone who gave me names; then I just decided to put one of the names with another one. :)**

**A/N: Okay I'm going to start getting a little more…what's the word…dramatic I guess. Don't worry…no one is going to die! I'm not that dramatic. ;-) **

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

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_**Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 19**_

Madison, as well as Kelsi were allowed come home two days later. Madison was proving that not only was she very healthy, but that she had a great set of lungs for someone born two months early. Katie was as excited as can be when she heard that her mom and new sister were coming home. She had Jason had been busy decorating Madison's new room; Jason did all the actual work while Katie picked out stuffed animals, toys, and what color her room should be.

"Here we go," Jason said as he helped Kelsi out of the car.

"Thanks," she said as she closed the door. She opened the back door and took the carrier which held Madison out.

Katie skipped to the door, "Mommy when you and Madison go up to her room, you have to close your eyes because it's a surprise," Katie said seriously.

Kelsi nodded, "All right," she said with a smile.

After walking up the stairs, Kelsi saw that the door to Madison's room was closed. Katie walked over to it, "Mommy and Madison…hey I like how that sounds… 'Mommy and Madison…'"

"Ahem," Jason said.

"Oh yeah…mommy and Madison, here is Madison's new room!" Katie opened the door and let Kelsi through.

As she walked inside, Kelsi's jaw dropped. "This is beautiful," she said as she looked at the green and purple walls, the rocking chair that had a pillow with a picture of Katie and Madison on it (It's amazing what you can do with cameras these days!) from the day before yesterday, and the crib. Kelsi smiled when she saw the mobile above it: musical notes and farm animals. She looked at Katie, "Did you help daddy decorate the room?"

Katie nodded, "Uh-huh and I picked out what animals to put in here and what color her crib should be, but daddy said that a wood-color crib would do just fine since he didn't feel like spending another…"

Jason put his hand over Katie's mouth, "Never mind that part," he said, giving Katie a look that seemed to say, 'I told you not to say anything about that!' He walked over to the rocking chair and picked up the pillow with Katie and Madison on it. "So what do you think? I had it done right after Katie and I left that day," he said with a smile.

"I think it's perfect. Katie your smile is beautiful," Kelsi said as she kissed her daughter's head. "And thank you very much for helping to decorate in here; I'm sure that if Madison could speak, she would be thanking you nonstop."

A large smile came across Katie's face as she walked over to Madison, who was still in her carrier, "I hope you like your room…mommy can I take her out and hold her?"

"Why don't I take her out and you go sit in the rocking chair and then hold her," Jason suggested, since he didn't want Katie to be lifting Madison up just yet.

She shrugged, "Okay." She walked over to the rocking chair and got her arms ready to support her sister's head and legs.

"Hello gorgeous," Jason said as he lifted the infant from her carrier. Madison opened her eyes and yawned. He smiled at her, "You want to see your sister again?" He handed her to Katie, "Be very careful."

"I know daddy; I am always careful with her," Katie said as she held her sister. While in her arms, Madison started to look around the room; she then looked right into Katie's eyes. "Mommy I think she smiled at me," Katie said happily. Her (Katie) smile soon faded, however, as she watched her sister's face start to scrunch up. "Uh oh," she said to herself, watching as Madison started crying.

Jason smiled, "Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong honey; she is probably just hungry or tired." He took Madison from Katie's arms, "Is that what's wrong? Are you hungry?"

Kelsi motioned for Katie to get up so she could sit down, "Here, I'll see if she's hungry."

Jason nodded and handed the baby to Kelsi. "Here we go."

Sure enough, Madison was hungry. Her cries soon subsided and came to a stop as she nursed. Not long after that, Kelsi saw her eyes slowly begin to close, "Okay I think she needs some sleep," she said as she placed Madison into the crib. She fell asleep almost instantly.

"Come on, let's go show Katie what we got her," Jason said, making sure Katie could hear what he said.

"What did you get me," she asked excitedly.

"Go into your room," Kelsi said. "It is in her room, right," she said aside to Jason.

He nodded, "I put it in there this morning."

Katie walked into her room and gasped, "Wow! Is this for me," she asked, looking at the large pink beanbag chair that was sitting at the foot of her bed against the wall. **(I have always thought of Jason and Kelsi as people who don't get their children tons of toys)**

"Yep, it sure is," Jason said. "Now you don't have to always lie down on your bed when you want to take a nap."

She smiled and hugged her parents, "Thank you!"

"Actually, thank _you _for being so supportive of mommy throughout this," Jason said as he kissed her head. "I know that there were some rough spots, but you still did a great job and for that, we are both proud of you."

Katie just smiled a smile that would bring tears of happiness to any parent's eyes. (Have you ever seen that kind of smile? I have and even though I'm not a parent…wow…it almost brought tears to my eyes!)

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**Evans Home…**

Ryan walked into Angela's room; she had just woken up from her 45 minute nap. He smiled as he picked her up, "I've got you, don't worry," he said gently as he rocked her back and forth until she stopped crying. He held her so that she was looking at him. "You have your mommy's eyes, you know that?" He carried her downstairs to where the rest of the family already was. "Look who's up," he said as he walked into the kitchen where Gabi had started to make dinner.

She looked over at Ryan and Angie and couldn't help but to smile. Ever since she found out the results to the test, she had been more relaxed and much happier. "Hi there sweetie," she said as she wiped her hands on a dish towel and took her from Ryan. "How's her cold seem to you," she asked.

He shrugged, "Well she isn't sneezing as much anymore and the coughing is nearly gone, so I'd say it's run its course."

She smiled at Angie, "Do you feel better now," she asked her. She was met with a smile from Angie. "I guess that is a yes." She kissed her head. "Oh Theresa is stuck with her math homework; do you think you could help her? I would, but I've got to get dinner ready."

He nodded, "Sure." He walked into the den where he saw Theresa sitting at a table, trying to figure out how to add two digit numbers together.

"No, that's not right," Theresa said to herself as she erased the answer she had written down. "What is the stupid answer!" She was tempted to just crinkle the paper up and throw it against the wall. She threw her pencil on the floor and let out an exasperated sigh.

"How's it going in here," Ryan asked as he walked closer to Theresa and picked up the pencil from the floor.

She shook her head, "I hate math. I'm no good at it!" She banged her wrist on the table out of frustration.

"Whoa let's not start hurting the furniture here," he said as he sat down beside her. "What are you having trouble with?"

"This." She pointed to the piece of paper. "My teacher said that since I didn't get a good grade on my quiz that I have to do…" She stopped herself, realizing what she had just said. She had never told her parents about the quiz or the fact that they had to sign it. She told her teacher that her parents were still looking it over.

Ryan looked at her, "Hold on; did you just say that you had a quiz…and that you didn't do well on it?" Neither he nor Gabi expected Theresa to be perfect; a grade other than an A would be just fine with them.

She stared at her paper, "Uh…wow I forgot that I have English homework to do," she said, trying to avert his attention.

"Not so fast, young lady," Ryan said. "You're not going to wiggle your way out of this one," he said firmly. "What quiz are you talking about?"

"The one we had last Friday," she said quietly.

He nodded, "And how long did you know about the quiz beforehand?"

"Three days," she said, nearly whispering.

He sighed, "Theresa, why didn't you tell us you had a quiz? What is the number 1 rule in this house?"

She thought for a moment, "That gold rule thing…the Golden Rule," she said matter-of-factly.

"All right, the number 2 rule then. What is it?"

She looked down, "Always be honest and never lie," she said.

"That's right. And that means that you were supposed to tell us that you had a quiz coming up; speaking of the quiz, when you say you didn't do well, how did you do," he asked, looking pointedly at her.

She mumbled an inaudible answer.

He sighed, "Out loud, Theresa," he said, growing impatient with her.

"I got a 54," she whispered.

He rubbed his temples, trying not to get to the point where he would start yelling at her for lying and not coming to him or Gabi about the grade. "All right," he said after a moment, "Do mommy and I have to sign it?"

She nodded.

"Go get it please."

She walked over to her backpack and took out the crumpled piece of paper, "I don't think you have to sign it anymore," she said, knowing that he or Gabi would find out the truth sooner or later.

He looked at her, "What are you talking about?"

"When my teacher asked for the quiz back after you and mommy had to sign it I said that you were still looking it over," she said in one breath.

He stood up, "Come with me." She followed him out to the kitchen where Gabi was still preparing dinner. "Did you know that Theresa had a math quiz on Friday last week?"

She looked up, "No, I didn't." She looked at Theresa and then at Ryan, "What's going on?"

Ryan handed her the quiz, "That. That is what is going on."

Gabi picked up the paper and looked at it, "A 54! Theresa why didn't you tell us about this? And how much time did you have to study for it?"

"Three days," she said softly.

Gabi shook her head, "You know better than to lie, young lady," Gabi said sternly. If there was on thing that she wouldn't tolerate, it was lying. "Is this why you had that extra math homework?"

Theresa nodded her head slowly, "Yes."

"Okay…" She thought for a moment, "Here's what I want you to do. First you're going to go back into the den and finish your homework; then you are going to go straight to your room and will stay there until it's time for dinner. After dinner, it's back upstairs and no TV or computer time. Do you understand?"

"But…"

"You heard your mother," Ryan said. He took a pen and signed the quiz and then gave it to Gabi to sign. "Go back and finish your homework; I'll help you, but after that, you go straight upstairs like your mother said."

"That's not fair!" She yelled.

Michael walked into the kitchen, having heard his sister yelling. "What happened," he asked.

"Shut up and go away!" Theresa stomped off into the den and slammed the door.

Gabi was about to go after her, but Ryan stopped her, "I'll deal with it," he said, seeing that she was about to explode.

She took a deep breath, "Thank you." She turned to Michael who now had tears in his eyes.

"What I do," he sniffled.

Gabi shook her head and picked him up, "Don't worry, it's okay." She hugged him and rubbed his back.

Ryan walked into the den and closed the door behind him. "Sit down," he said angrily. She did so. "You never, ever yell at your brother, let alone say those words in this house…or at all for that matter. Do you understand," he said, his voice raised.

She nodded, "Yes," she said on the verge of tears.

"Good," he said, lowering his voice. "Finish your homework and then go upstairs," he said, calming down.

"But I still need help with it," she said as tears started falling down her face.

"And I will help you; but you are to never lie or yell in this house again," he said firmly.

"Okay," she said quietly. She sat back down with Ryan and worked on her homework.

* * *

**Bolton Home…**

Zachary was finally well enough to come home from the hospital. Sharpay had missed several of Larissa's rehearsals, due to always being at the hospital with Zachary. Larissa understood this and wasn't angry at her parents anymore…For the time being, anyway.

"We're home," Sharpay said as she and Troy walked through the door with Zachary in Sharpay's arms.

"Mommy!" Larissa ran to her mom and hugged her. "I did my lines right today," she said with a smile.

"Excellent," Sharpay said with a smile. "Did you see who came home?"

She looked at Zachary, "Hi Zachary," she said with a small smile. She turned to Troy, "Daddy!" She hugged him as well.

"Hi sweetheart; congratulations on learning the lines," he said as he picked her up and hugged her.

She smiled, "Want to hear one of the lines?"

Before he or Sharpay could answer, Zachary started coughing again. "Troy, remember what the doctor said to do," she said to him, not listening to what Larissa had just said.

"Yes, I'll go get the medicine," he said as he hurried over to the bag and took out a bottle of medicine along with a medicine cup. He waited until Zachary stopped coughing to give it to him. "That should help you, buddy," Troy said as he picked him up.

Larissa sighed and waited for them to finish taking care of Zachary.

"I'm going to put him down for a nap," Sharpay said, walking upstairs with him in her arms.

Troy nodded, "Okay." He turned to Larissa, "I'm sorry honey, what did you say?"

"I asked if you wanted to hear one of the lines from the play that I say," she said, her smile coming back.

He nodded, "I'd love to…let me just tell your grandparents that it's okay for them to go home first." He picked her up and walked upstairs where his parents were with Ana and Kayleigh. "Thanks for helping out so much," Troy said to his mom.

"It was no trouble at all," Cindy said with a smile. "You have wonderful children."

"I know," Troy said proudly. He hugged his mom and dad goodbye. He then turned his attention back to Larissa. "Okay, now I will listen to the line."

She was about to say it when Sharpay called out to him, "Troy! Can you help me out here?"

He sighed, "I'm sorry; I promise that I will listen…after dinner. Zachary will be asleep then and both mommy and I will be able to listen."

She nodded, "Okay." She watched as Troy hurried into the twins' room. She then walked into her and Ana's room. "Ana, what are you doing," she asked when she saw Ana holding a porcelain doll of hers. "How did you get that?" She walked over to Ana and tried to take it from her before she did something to it or to herself.

"It mine," she yelled as she tried to take it back.

"I know but you could…" The doll fell from Ana's hands. "Drop it," Larissa finished. "Now look what you did," she yelled back, scaring Ana and causing her to cry.

"No, it's okay Ana," Larissa said as she picked up a few of the pieces.

"What on earth happened in here," Sharpay asked, shooting an accusatory look over to Larissa.

Larissa looked at what she was holding and stood up, "Ana dropped her doll," she said.

Sharpay crossed her arms, "How could she have gotten that doll, Larissa? She is way too short to climb on to a shelf and get it."

"I really don't know how she got it, mommy! I saw her holding it and I tried to take it so she wouldn't drop it, but she did anyway!" She looked at Ana, "Go on, tell her," she said.

Ana, however, was still very upset over the fact that the doll had fallen from her hands in the first place, so she said nothing. She simply sobbed.

Troy came into the room, "What's going on in here?" He saw the small doll that was now in pieces on the floor. He looked up at Ana and then at Larissa, "Why did you do that?"

She was shocked. "No! I didn't do it, daddy! I promise! I was trying to get it back from Ana so she wouldn't drop it," she said, tears now in her eyes.

"Like I said before, Larissa, Ana is way too short to have climbed up and gotten it," Sharpay said. She picked up a crying Ana, "It's okay honey, don't cry." She then looked at Larissa, "You are to stay in here, do you understand?"

Troy came back with a broom and dustpan from the linen closet and swept the pieces up and threw them away.

Larissa looked at Troy, "Daddy I didn't do it!" She sobbed.

"Stay in here like your mother said," he said as he left the room and closed the door behind him.

Larissa sat on her bed in tears, completely dumbfounded at what had just happened.

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**I told you I was bringing in more drama! Please review and thank you for reading! Suggestions are always welcome.**


	20. Ana: Sweet or Sour?

**Thank you for all the kind reviews! I truly appreciate them. **

**A great read: If you're a Troy/Gabriella person, read "No One But You" by Lipshake. It is great! But you should read the story that comes before that, "E-Love" as well.:) Just thought I'd throw that in there because it really is a great story!**

**A/N: Okay, I've split this chapter into two parts: 1st part is Ryan/Gabi and 2nd part is Troy/Sharpay. Sorry, but there isn't going to be any Jason/Kelsi, BUT I'm planning on having them in the next chapter, so never fear! Oh, and the drama continues…**

**Disclaimer: Okay I'm just going to stop writing this part…everyone knows that we don't own HSM, LOL! Only the characters we all make up. **

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_**Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 20 **_

**Bolton Home…**

_Larissa sat on her bed in tears completely dumbfounded at what had just happened._

It had only been 10 minutes, but it felt more like 10 years for Larissa. She was told to stay in her room until either her mom or dad came upstairs to talk to her. She looked up at the shelf that contained the other porcelain dolls that belonged to Ana and herself. How did Ana manage to get up there?

She then saw Ana walk into the room. "Ana how did you get the doll," she asked before Ana could do or say anything.

Ana just stood there for a moment, thinking of what to say; she didn't want to get into trouble like Larissa. "It was just thewe," she said, pointing to the lower shelf.

"It was not!" Larissa yelled. "You're lying!"

She shrugged, "So?" She flashed an 'I'm innocent' grin at her sister.

Larissa had had it. She got off of her bed and walked over to Ana and hit her arm, not even thinking about the consequences. "I hate you!"

Ana began to cry from the pain that Larissa gave her when she hit her arm. "Mommy!"

Sharpay hurried into the room, "What's wrong?" She looked from Ana to Larissa and back to Ana.

"Wisa hit me!" She cried, showing her mom her arm which was slowly turning black and blue.

"She was lying about what happened!" Larissa said, trying to defend herself.

"Lying or not, you do not hit your sister, Larissa," Sharpay said angrily. "If you do this again, you will be grounded. You know that lying is wrong; and you know that you never blame someone else for what you did."

Larissa sat back down on her bed and buried her head in her pillow and started to cry again. Why wouldn't her mom believe her? Since when was Ana such a good little liar? She could have easily told her parents what had really happened, but she didn't. "I didn't do it," she sobbed into her pillow. She then looked at her mom, "What do you mean by grounded?"

"I mean you get up in the morning, get dressed, eat breakfast, go to school, come home, go to your room until dinner, eat dinner, and then come back upstairs. Basically no privileges…do you remember two months ago," she asked.

Larissa nodded; they were at a basketball game (not the one in LA) and Larissa had gotten up even though her parents told her not to and managed to get lost. Even though they were happy to have found her and relieved that she was safe, she hadn't listened and was therefore grounded the next day. "Yes," she said softly.

"All right," Sharpay said in a calmer tone, "I came up here to tell you that dinner is ready…and we're not going to talk about the doll incident at the dinner table…no matter who is to blame," she said, adding the last part when she saw Larissa open her mouth to protest.

"Fine," Larissa said, walking past her mom and down the stairs.

The rest of the evening went by relatively calmly. Larissa had decided to not bring the subject of Ana lying about how the doll dropped up. She walked into her room after having brushed her teeth. Ana was already in the room, looking at a book. "Looks like you got your way…again," Larissa said as she climbed into bed.

"That's enough, Larissa," Troy said from the doorway. "What's done is done, understand?"

"But…"

"Larissa," he said in a warning tone.

"Fine." She frowned and lay down, facing the wall so her dad couldn't see the tears falling down her face.

* * *

**Evans Home…**

**(A/N: This is taking place simultaneously with what just happened with Larissa)**

Theresa finished the last problem of her homework. "I'm done," she said to Ryan who was working on something on his laptop on the other side of the room.

He stood up and walked over Theresa and looked at the last problem, "Very good," he said.

She smiled, "Does this mean I don't have to go to my room?"

He shook his head, "No; just because you finished your homework doesn't mean you're off the hook for lying. Your mom or I will call you when it's time for dinner."

She angrily threw the paper into her backpack and went upstairs and slammed her door.

Ryan decided not to go upstairs and lecture her; she was already in enough trouble and was probably mad enough at her parents already. He walked into the kitchen and saw Gabi holding a piece of paper while shaking her head. "What's up," he asked, walking over to her.

"I was going through a bunch of papers from when Angie was born and found exactly what I was looking for." She showed him Angie's birth certificate.

He shrugged, "What about it?"

"Ryan, look at the last name. Darin. That's Rob's last name…he's not her dad; you are. We need to change this somehow."

He nodded, "Well we can call the hospital and tell them that they need to correct it and haven them change the last name to 'Evans'," he said.

She smiled, "Okay; I just didn't want Angie to go through life wondering why her last name was different from everyone else's." She put the paper back into the folder. "So," she said, changing the subject, "I'm guessing that Theresa wasn't too thrilled about still having to go to her room?"

"You guessed right." He shook his head, "Since when has she ever lied about…well…anything?"

"I don't know, but we have to put a stop to it before she does it again; I have a student who did that and his parents never caught on, therefore causing him to nearly repeat the 3rd grade." She sighed, "I just hope the same thing doesn't happen to our daughter."

He shook his head, "It won't; we'll just check her bag if we have to."

She nodded, "All right…will you go get Theresa? Dinner's ready."

"All right." He walked upstairs and opened her door, "Hey," he said, walking into the room.

"What?"

"Dinner's ready, that's what. And don't use that attitude, young lady," he said crossly.

She rolled her eyes, "Fine." She got off her bed and to the door, but was stopped by Ryan.

"What did I just say about the attitude?"

She frowned, "Fine I'll be nicer," she said, walking past him.

He sighed, "That's all I ask. Come on, mom made your favorite," he said, trying to brighten the mood.

A very small smile appeared on her face. "Chicken fajitas?"

He nodded, "You got it…hey promise me one thing," he said, stopping her before she went downstairs.

"What?"

"No more lying…trust me, it will get you nowhere and if you think you're in trouble now…you don't even want to know what the consequences will be if you do it again," he said firmly but calmly.

She nodded, "Okay." She paused, "Sorry daddy." She hugged him.

"Thank you." He kissed her head and walked down the stairs.

Theresa walked into the kitchen and hurried over to Gabi, "Mommy?"

She turned around, "Yes?"

Theresa threw her arms around her mom, "I'm sorry," she said.

Gabi smiled, "Thank you," she said, returning the hug. "You know that we love you, right?"

She nodded, "Yes."

"And that we only got mad that you lied because we care about you," she said, kneeling down to Theresa's level.

"So when I get mad at you does that mean that I only do it because I care about you?"

Ryan suppressed a laugh, "Not exactly, but in a very odd way, yes. You're letting us know your emotions."

She nodded, "Okay." She sat down at the table just in time to see Angie spit up, "Eww!"

Gabi sighed, "Hey, she's only a baby; she can't help it."

"Yeah but does she have to ruin dinner?" She looked at Angie who simply cooed and smiled at her. Theresa tried her best not to smile back, but it didn't work. Her sister was too cute. "Angie, whatever you do, when you get older, don't lie. Mommy and daddy will get mad."

Gabi smiled at Ryan, "What did you say to her," she asked aside to him.

"Remember what you said to Sharpay during senior year about what our father would do if he found out about her changing her test scores?"

She laughed, "You mean about how bad the consequences would be?"

He nodded, "Hey it worked, didn't it? She told our dad about it."

"And then got grounded for about a month."

He shrugged, "Hey, it worked, didn't it?"

She nodded, "Yeah, it did."

* * *

**Monday Afternoon…**

Larissa had just finished rehearsal for _Cinderella_ and was waiting outside for Troy to come pick her up. The rest of the weekend had dragged by for her; Troy did finally listen to her say a few of her lines from the show, but while he was listening, Ana had come into the room crying…she had been playing with one of her toys and had bumped her head on her dresser, leaving a bump on her head. While she knew it wasn't her fault, Larissa couldn't help but to think, 'why couldn't she have gone to mom?' After another five minutes of waiting, Troy finally pulled up in front of the school.

"I am so sorry sweetie," he said as he shut off the car and got out to help Larissa into the car. "I got held up at the restaurant," he explained.

She nodded, smiling to herself that it didn't have anything to do with Ana. "That's okay."

He smiled, "So how did rehearsal go," he asked as he started the car and started driving.

"Okay, except I messed up the song at the beginning…instead of saying 'a dream is a wish your heart makes,' I said 'a dream is a wish you make with your heart.'"

"Don't worry, you'll get it," he said, glancing over at her.

"Can you come to my rehearsal sometime? The play is in two weeks, daddy." She gave her best puppy dog face.

He sighed, "I really wish I could honey, but things at work are nuts right now; maybe your mom can come watch you."

She shrugged, "Maybe."

Once home, Larissa hurried up to her room to work on memorizing her lines. For a girl who was only 5 ½, she had proven to be quite the reader; she had gone from not being able to read her name to being able to read more than a lot of 1st graders could. She walked into her room and saw Ana already in there.

Ana looked up and smiled, "Hi Wisa."

Larissa was trying to not be mad at Ana, but it was hard. "Hi," she said with a fake smile. _I need to make mom and dad think that I'm not mad at her,_ she thought to herself. "Ana, do you want to listen to the first lines of my play?"

Ana nodded, "Okay." She sat on her bed and listened. She smiled as she heard the lines and the expressions that Larissa used. "Yay," she said when Larissa finished.

She smiled, "Did you like it?"

"Uh-huh, good job," Ana said as she got up and walked downstairs. "I go see mommy now."

Larissa decided to go find her as well so she could practice with her, so she followed Ana down the stairs. While looking for her, she failed to notice that Ana found her mom's car keys and took them and walked towards the garage. When she heard the door open, she thought that it was her mom so she walked to the garage where she saw Ana rather close to their mom's car…with the keys. "Ana, no!" She ran over to her sister.

"Troy I'm going to the store," Sharpay said, poking her head into the den. "Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm good thanks," he said, getting back to what he was doing.

She nodded, "Okay." She walked over to the kitchen counter to grab her keys, but they weren't there. "Have you seen my keys," she asked.

"Nope, didn't you leave them on the counter or something," he asked, emerging from the den. He walked into the family room where Kayleigh and Zachary (who was all better except for a little case of the sniffles) were playing. "Have you two seen mommy's keys," he asked, picking Kayleigh up.

She nodded, "Ana," she said.

He frowned, "What do you mean?"

She shrugged, "Ana and Wisa." She went back to playing.

"Daddy!" Zachary handed Troy a pair of plastic toy keys, "Hewe keys!"

He smiled, "Thanks buddy, but I don't think that's what mommy was referring to." He kissed his head.

"Maybe I left them in the car," Sharpay said, heading over to the door leading to the garage, which was open. "Troy, did you leave the door open again?"

"No…"

"That's odd," she said to herself as she walked into the garage.

Larissa, in the meantime, had been trying to get the keys from her sister, "Give them to me, Ana!" As Larissa tried to grab the keys from her sister, one of the key chains broke off. "Now look what you made me do!" She quickly hid the chain behind her back when she heard someone walk into the garage.

Sharpay nearly dropped her purse on the floor. "Larissa Claire Bolton, what on earth do you think you're doing!" She yelled, rushing over to the girls and taking the keys from Larissa's hands. "Get inside right now; both of you!"

Larissa scowled at Ana, "I told you you'd get into trouble if you did that!"

Sharpay led the two to the couch in the living room, "Sit down. Now."

Troy walked over to her with the twins trailing him, "What's going on?"

"Our daughter here decided to try for her driver's license a little early," Sharpay said, showing him the keys and then looking directly at…Larissa.

Her eyes went wide, "What? No, it wasn't me! Ana took your keys mommy! I tried to get them from her!"

"Wait a minute, Kayleigh did say something about Ana when I asked her if she knew where your keys were," Troy said.

Larissa nodded, "That's because she took them! She went into the garage and I went in after her!" She looked at Ana who was looking at her parents with innocent eyes.

Sharpay looked at both girls, "I am very disappointed in both of you, but especially you, Larissa. You should have been watching your sister more closely. Where were you when she grabbed the keys?"

"I was looking for you. I didn't see her take them," she said, tears forming in her eyes. She looked at Troy, "Daddy I didn't know she was going to do that she was going to do that!"

He shook his head, "I just…both of you go upstairs to your room." As they started to go, he noticed something in Larissa's hands, "What are you holding, Larissa?"

She opened her hand and saw that she had the key chain in it. "Uh…" She was too shocked to speak.

"That's it, you're grounded," Sharpay said. "Now both of you go to your room."

Larissa ran upstairs and flung herself onto her bed. This couldn't be happening…again! She got up after a few minutes and looked at Ana, "This is all your fault!" She walked out of the room, "I'm going to the bathroom…don't follow me!"

Ana simply shrugged and sat on her bed.

Larissa walked into the guest room and opened the window and looked down. She saw the trellis on the side of the house and decided to climb down it; she was a very good climber, after all. As she made her way to the bottom, she hurried out of the yard.

* * *

**Evans Home…**

"I'll get it," Gabi said after she heard the doorbell ring.

"All right," Ryan said, sitting back down with Theresa. He was helping her with her English assignment.

Gabi walked to the door and opened it. She was a bit stunned to see Larissa standing there, tears running down her cheeks. "Larissa, what are you doing here?"

Larissa didn't say anything; she simply flung her arms around her aunt and sobbed into her shirt.

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**Cliffhanger! Ana is quite devious, isn't she? Please review and remember suggestions are welcome! Thanks for reading. :)**


	21. Apologies and Forgiveness

**Wow, I wasn't expecting this many reviews for the chapter! Thanks again!**

**A/N: Expect a lot of drama in this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

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_**Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 21**_

_Gabi walked to the door and opened it. She was a bit stunned to see Larissa standing there, tears running down her cheeks. "Larissa, what are you doing here?"_

_Larissa didn't say anything; she simply flung her arms around her aunt and sobbed into her shirt._

Gabi didn't know how to react to this except to hug her back. She then looked outside to see if Troy or Sharpay was there with her…neither one was. She picked Larissa up and carried her into the house. "Ryan, will you come here please?"

"Good job honey…go and put this away," he said to Theresa. He walked over to Gabi, "What is it…Larissa?" He said in shock when he saw the little girl crying into Gabi's shoulder.

"Will you take her, Ryan? I'm going to call Troy and Sharpay; they must be worried sick right now…"

"No!" Larissa yelled, jolting her head up. "You can't call them! They wouldn't care anyway," she cried.

Gabi looked at Larissa, "What do you mean? I'm sure they are very worried about you. And you still haven't answered my question as to what you're doing here…without your parents." She looked pointedly at her.

"They hate me," she said softly.

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After 15 minutes, Troy and Sharpay decided to go upstairs and talk to both girls. Troy opened the door to Ana and Larissa's room, but only saw Ana.

"Where is your sister," he asked.

"She had to go to bathwoom," Ana said, pointing in the direction of the bathroom.

Sharpay walked to the closed bathroom door and knocked, "Larissa when you're done we need to talk."

No answer.

"Larissa, is everything all right in there?" She knocked again.

No answer.

Sharpay, now worried, opened the door, only to find that there wasn't anyone in the bathroom. She let out an exasperated sigh, placed her hands on her hips, now rather angry, and walked into the bedroom, "She's not in the bathroom."

Troy, confused, went into the bathroom and searched the bathtub, the small closet…everything. On his way back to the room, he felt a slight chill coming from the guest room. He walked into the room and saw that the window was open. "What the…Sharpay did you open the window in here," he asked as he shut it.

She walked into the room, "No…" A light bulb went off in her head, "Troy. She ran away," Sharpay said, half worried, half fuming.

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"So why did you run away," Ryan asked as he sat down on the other side of Larissa on the living room couch.

"Because mommy and daddy hate me," she said, still crying. "They love Ana, Kayleigh, and Zach, but they hate me! They always get mad at me, even when it's not my fault!"

Ryan sighed, "What do you mean they always get mad at you when it's not your fault?"

She took a breath before talking, "When mommy and daddy brought Zachary home from the hospital, I went up to my room to get something and saw Ana with one of her special dolls…you know, the kind that break if you drop them," she said, not knowing the material the dolls were made out of (porcelain).

Gabi nodded, "Yeah, I know what you're talking about."

"Well I saw Ana with one of hers and I asked her how she got it down, but she wouldn't tell me so I told her that if she dropped it that it would break…so I tried to take it from her since she wouldn't put it down…but then it dropped…she let it drop! She broke the doll, not me!" Larissa said, now sobbing again.

Ryan held her close to him and got another tissue to wipe her face. "What happened after that?"

"Mommy and daddy heard something break and saw the doll and blamed me, even though it wasn't my fault! I tried to tell them, but they wouldn't listen! They never blame Ana for anything because she is special…mommy always takes her side," she said, referring to her autism.

Gabi sighed and took Larissa's hand, "Did anything else happen?"

"They said they'd ground me if something like that happened again…and it did today," she said, the tears coming back.

"What happened today," Ryan asked, still holding Larissa close to him.

"I was going downstairs to find mommy so I could practice my lines for the play with her and Ana was going to find her too, so I just followed her downstairs. I went one way and she went the other…I guess she got mommy's car keys from the counter because I heard the door to the garage open and I thought it was mommy…"

"Was it Ana," Gabi asked.

She nodded, "She was in the garage with mommy's keys! So I tried to get them from her and bring her back inside, but when I tried to, part of the keychain broke off…that's when mommy found us…" She shook her head as fresh tears fell from her eyes, "Even though I told them what happened, they still mostly blamed me…especially mommy!" She would have continued, had she not been crying so hard and nearly coughing up a lung from crying ((have you ever cried so hard that you cough a lot? I have!)).

Ryan pulled Larissa into his lap and hugged her, silently cursing his sister. How could she be so blind? Even though Ana was autistic, she wasn't stupid. When Larissa had calmed down a bit, he handed her to Gabi, "I'm going to go call them," he whispered, not wanting to upset Larissa again. He was going to give his sister an earful or two.

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Sharpay paced back and forth in her and Troy's room. "She knows to never run away! What the hell made her think to do something so…so…" She grunted in anger.

"First of all, stop pacing; you're making me dizzy. Second, she obviously thought that we were too hard on her about grounding her; that is probably why she did it…and I'll bet you anything that she's in the backyard somewhere." He looked at her.

She sighed and sat down, "I suppose she could be…but why would she do something like this in the first place?" Her train of thought was interrupted by the phone. She walked over to it, "Hello?"

"You have got to be one of the most narrow-minded people I know," Ryan said rather harshly to his sister.

She sat back down on the bed, "What are you talking about, Ryan," she asked in just as harsh a tone.

"I'm talking about the fact that just because one of your children happens to have special needs doesn't mean she is an angel 100 percent of the time. I mean think about it, Sharpay," he said, wanting to literally knock some sense into her head.

Her eyes went wide, "You know where Larissa is, don't you? Is she with you?"

He sighed, "Yes, and she has it in her head that you and Troy hate her…even though she was telling you the truth," he said after a pause. "When was the last time you really listened to her?"

"Ryan, she is just angry about being grounded and this is how she's getting back at us; she just wants attention; like when she was hitting the other kids in her class because we were giving the twins a little more attention after they were born!" She nearly yelled.

"G-d Sharpay, would you listen to yourself? You sound like a fool! If you keep this up, she is going to turn around and hate you one of these days…although that's highly unlikely since you and Troy are the only real parents she's ever known," he said in a calmer tone.

As Sharpay was talking to Ryan, Troy decided to give her some time alone so he walked into the twins' room. Both were now asleep; about 5 minutes after they sent the girls to their room, they saw that it was naptime for Kayleigh and Zachary. He smiled softly and left the door opened a crack.

He walked down the hall and was about to go into Ana and Larissa's room when he saw something that made him have to blink a few times, just to make sure he was really seeing it. There was Ana, standing on a chair, reaching up to the top shelf and getting one of her porcelain dolls down. He just stood there, dumbfounded. "It really was her," he said quietly to himself. He hurried across the hall and into their room where Sharpay was still talking/yelling to Ryan.

He walked over to her, "Get off the phone and come with me…now," he said, taking her hand.

She sighed, "Listen Ryan I'll call you back…will you just stop it! I think I know my own daughter." She slammed the phone down.

"No, you don't," Troy said.

She turned to him, "What do you mean?"

"Come with me." He took her hand again and led her into the girls' room where Ana was still trying to get the doll down.

Sharpay just stood there, not able to believe what she was seeing. She had to intercede. "Ana, get down from there this instant!" She pulled Ana off the chair and placed her on the bed, "What on earth do you think you're doing!" Before Ana said anything, Sharpay put her hands to her face. "Oh dear lord," she muttered. "Larissa really was telling us the truth."

Troy nodded, "It would appear that way," he said, frowning at Ana.

"We didn't…believe her because Ana is…autistic," Sharpay said as she sat down on Larissa's bed in a bit of a daze. "Ryan's right; we are…I mean I am narrow-minded." She shook her head, deciding to deal with the issue at hand. She looked over at Ana, "Ana did you break the other doll?"

No answer.

"Anastasia Marie Bolton **(yes, she has the same middle name as Katie)**, look at me," she said crossly. "Did you break the other doll?"

Ana nodded her head slowly, "Yes."

"Is this how you managed to get it down," Troy asked.

She nodded her head again.

Sharpay took a deep breath, having a feeling that she knew what the answer to her next question was going to be. "Did you take my keys and go into the garage today?"

She nodded, "Yes…"

"And um…did Larissa try to get you to come back inside," she asked, holding tears back.

"Yes," she said again.

Sharpay didn't know what to think…or say. She looked at Ana, "You are in big trouble; you know that, right," she said firmly.

Ana nodded, "Uh huh," she said, finally showing some sign of emotion.

"Troy, I need to go get our daughter…alone. I'll be back…whenever," Sharpay said, getting up.

"All right," he said, nodding his head.

Ana started to follow Sharpay out of the room, "Mama?"

Troy stopped her, "Nope, you are staying right here, young lady," he said sternly.

Sharpay got her things and drove to Ryan and Gabi's house. Once she pulled into the driveway, she shut off the car, but didn't get out right away. She took a deep breath and pulled her thoughts together, knowing that she would have to do a lot of apologizing to get through to Larissa; let alone her own brother. She finally got out of the car and walked to the door and rang the bell.

Ryan came to the door, "Come to insult me some more," he asked sarcastically.

She sighed, "I've come to take my daughter home."

"Not so fast," he said when she tried to get past him. "What are you going to do to her now? Make her step down from being in the play?"

She shook her head, "No…Ryan you…you were right…about everything," she said, feeling her eyes moisten. "I can't believe that I didn't believe her…"

He nodded, "Come on," he said, allowing her to come inside. "She's upstairs with Gabi. Before I get her, however, you should know that she was pretty upset when she got here…she was crying so hard that she made herself sick, Sharpay," he said, feeling his anger get the better of him. He took a deep breath, "I-It's just…I can't stand to see her like this for this reason," he said calmly.

"I understand," she said softly.

"Mommy?"

Sharpay looked at the stairs and saw Larissa at the top. "Hi honey," she said in a relieved voice; she had to see her to know that she was physically okay. "I need to talk to you for a few minutes…will you please come downstairs?"

Larissa looked at Gabi who simply nodded. She walked down the stairs slowly, not knowing whether her mom was even madder at her or not.

As she reached the bottom, Sharpay pulled her into a tight hug, "I am so, so sorry, sweetheart," she said, picking her up and taking her into the living room. She sat her down beside her.

Larissa wiped her eyes, "I didn't do either thing, mommy," she said, wanting her mom to know the absolute truth.

Sharpay nodded, "I know you didn't sweetheart; we caught Ana in the act…but that isn't the point." She took a deep breath, "The point is that we should have believed you in the first place. You would never intentionally break one of your sister's things; I know that now and I did then…but because of the fact that Ana is autistic, my mind automatically thought that she could never be capable of anything like that." She looked at Larissa and put a hand through her hair, "I am very sorry for not believing you, honey."

Larissa could feel fresh tears falling down her face. She climbed into her mom's lap and sobbed. "I'm sorry I ran away," she said through her tears. "You made…me…mad."

"I know I did; heck, _I_ made myself mad after talking to Uncle Ryan on the phone." She rubbed Larissa's back, calming her down.

"I didn't take your keys either," Larissa said once she had calmed down a bit.

Sharpay nodded, "I know you didn't; we got Ana to tell us the truth; you were trying to stop her from doing something bad, weren't you?"

"Uh huh; I also tried to take the doll away from her so she wouldn't break it…but she dropped it anyway." She looked at the floor.

"Hey, don't blame yourself for that one; even without you interceding I'm sure she would have dropped it anyway."

Larissa looked up at her mom, "Am I still grounded?"

Sharpay sighed, "Yes and no; no you're not grounded for what Ana did; she will be punished for that, but yes because you ran away," she said, seeing more tears well up in Larissa's eyes.

She got out of her mom's lap. "I ran away because you wouldn't listen to me!" She yelled, starting to sob again. She started to cough again, which was followed by gagging.

Sharpay picked her up and carried her to the bathroom, just in case. "You…you're right," she said, rubbing her back. "I didn't listen to you; is that why you came here?"

Larissa nodded, "Yes," she said before getting sick again.

She nodded and continued to rub her back until Larissa was finished. When she was, she took a tissue and wiped her mouth off and held her in her lap, "You know for a little girl you have a very grown up sense of what to do when something is really wrong," she said. She took a deep breath, "No, you're not grounded…but I don't ever want you to run away like that again…ever," she said softly, yet firmly. "You really scared daddy and me."

"So…you still love me," Larissa asked softly.

"Oh goodness yes," Sharpay said as she stood up and picked Larissa up, hugging her again. "There has never been a day when I haven't loved you, sweetie. Don't ever think that we don't love you, because we do, okay?"

She nodded, "Okay."

After a few minutes of hugging, Sharpay set Larissa down, "Ready to go home?"

"Okay, but on one condition."

"And what would that be?"

"I want you to listen to me do my first lines of the play," Larissa said with a small smile.

Sharpay smiled, "Deal."

"And Ana can't interrupt us."

"I promise she won't; if she needs something, she'll go to daddy."

"Okay," Larissa said, satisfied with that answer.

As they walked back into the living room, Ryan walked over to them, "Everything all right now?"

"Yes, thanks to you," Sharpay said as she hugged him. "Thank you," she said softly.

He nodded, "Anytime."

Sharpay nudged Larissa who looked up at her uncle, "Thank you for listening to me, Uncle Ryan," she said.

"Anything for my favorite 5 ½ year old niece," he said as he hugged her.

"Huh?" Was Larissa's response.

He shook his head, "Never mind."

Sharpay smiled, knowing what he meant. She and Larissa then left for home.

* * *

**Ah, the smell of drama in the evening…actually it smells like rain…it's pouring here. ANYWAY, what did you think? Oh, and I'm not ending the story here! I just figured I'd end the chapter sans the cliffhanger this time. So what do you think will happen with Ana? What will happen between Larissa and Ana? Please review and thank you for reading!**


	22. Cinderella and a Storm

**Thank you for all the reviews everyone! They mean a lot to me. **

**A/N: For Larissa's play, _Cinderella_, I'm using the Disney cartoon version; not the Rogers & Hammerstein version (the one that has the songs "In My Own Little Corner" and "10 Minutes Ago," just to name a couple). That is why Larissa auditioned with the song "Someday My Prince Will Come," even though it's from "Snow White." :)**

**A/N #2: This chapter is focusing on the play for the most part. As I have said below this, any song that I put in here is NOT mine. I'm only putting the ones that Cinderella sings in here.:) Obvious reasons!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Disney's _Cinderella_, nor do I own its songs or HSM. But I do own the characters I made up.**

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_**Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 22**_

When Sharpay and Larissa came home, Larissa was greeted with a bear hug from Troy. He apologized to her as well for not fully believing her about what had happened. Ana had been rightfully punished for what she had done not only to her sister, but for lying about it as well; or in her case, simply not saying anything at all. They had pretty much grounded her; she wasn't allowed to watch any TV for 3 days (an eternity to a little kid), she wasn't allowed to play with her favorite toy for 2 days, and the day after everything had happened, she had to stay in her room except for meals and to go to the bathroom. Things were soon back to normal between her and Larissa, however. Larissa didn't stay mad at Ana as she had intended on doing, but she soon realized that it was too hard to stay angry at a sister she had pretty much taken care of for the 1st year of her life.

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**2 Weeks Later…**

Larissa looked in the mirror one more time before going downstairs where her parents were waiting. This was it; this was the big night. Tonight was opening night of _Cinderella._ It was only going to be put on for two nights and then be over, but for all of the children who were participating in it, they were the most important nights of their lives; especially Larissa's. She had spent the last month preparing her lines, rehearsing with her cast mates, and of course, rehearsing the two songs that she got to sing.

"Larissa, let's go," Sharpay called from downstairs. She was holding a restless Kayleigh who just wanted to get down and run around, but she was in a new dress that Sharpay did not want her to get all dirty the first night she had it.

"I'm coming," she called down to her family. She walked down the stairs wearing her raincoat over her costume; she didn't want her family to see the costume before the show.

Troy smiled, "Ready?"

She nodded, "Yep!"

They walked out to the car and five minutes later were ready to go. When they got there, Larissa hurried to the auditorium and went behind the curtain so she could let one of the teachers do her make-up.

"Want to go find some seats," Troy asked after Larissa left.

"Sure, but we'll probably need the whole row," Sharpay said. Not only were Troy, Sharpay, and Ana going to need seats (Kayleigh and Zachary were going to sit on their parent's laps), Ryan, Gabi, Theresa and Michael would need seats as well. Since Angie was only 5 months old, they decided to call a sitter. They were bringing Katie with them since Jason and Kelsi didn't want to leave Madison home with a sitter yet, since she was only 3 weeks old.

"Don't worry, I have it covered," Troy said. He laid out their coats over a number of chairs, which was what many other families seemed to be doing as well.

"There they are," Ryan said to Gabi as they walked into the auditorium.

Sharpay turned around and saw Ryan, Gabi, and the kids. "Hey guys, I'm glad you could make it," she said as a loud clap of thunder could be heard. **(Sorry, there's a major thunderstorm here, so I figured I'd include it, LOL)**

Michael hid his head in Gabi's shoulder, "Make it stop," he said, close to tears.

"Honey, we're inside and the storm is outside; do you remember what I told you about storms," she asked him.

"We okay inside," he asked, looking up at her.

She nodded, "That's right, so don't worry." She sat down and placed him in her lap. "So," she said, turning her attention to Sharpay, "Do you think that Larissa is a miniature you when you were little?"

She shrugged, "I don't know…"

"Yes," Ryan said at the same time.

She gave him a look, "No one asked for your opinion," she said with a smirk. "Oh look, there are Alison and Maya," Sharpay said, waving them over.

"Hi there," Alison said as she and Maya came over to everyone. She looked at Maya, "I am going to go park the car; I'll be right back, okay?"

She nodded, "Okay mommy."

Alison smiled and walked out of the auditorium and outside to her car.

As soon as everyone was seated, the lights were dimmed and a miniature overture to _Cinderella_ was played. The curtain then opened and there stood a boy who looked like he was in 4th grade. He began the narration of the story. Behind him, the scenes he was describing were being acted out. As he finished, the stage lights dimmed and rustling could be heard on stage, as well as a lot of "That's my foot!" and "You're supposed to stand over there." The audience did its best to not giggle too much.

When the stage lights came back up, there was Larissa in her Cinderella costume ((picture the cartoon version of the movie and the dress that Cinderella wears for most of the movie)). "I can't tell you my dream," she said to the 'birds' that were hanging outside the window. The birds were puppets that the kids were using from underneath the window set. "If I do, it won't come true." She walked to the center of the stage and began to sing in perfect pitch.

_A dream is a wish your heart makes  
When you're fast asleep  
In dreams you will lose your heartaches  
Whatever you wish for, you keep _

Have faith in your dreams and someday  
Your rainbow will come smiling thru  
No matter how your heart is grieving  
If you keep on believing  
the dream that you wish will come true

As soon as she finished, the audience, especially her mom, applauded. Troy would have applauded, but he was recording the show. His smile said it all though.

Relieved to have her first song over with, Larissa was now much more confident. She continued her scenes with the mice (her classmates), her stepmother and stepsisters, who got big laughs in all the right places, and then her second song.

_Cinderella, Cinderella  
All I hear is Cinderella, from the moment I get up  
till shades of night are falling  
There isn't any letup, I hear them calling, calling  
"Go up and do the attic and go down and do the cellar, you can do them  
both together  
"Cinderella." _

How lovely it would be  
if I could live in my fantasy  
But in the middle of my dreaming  
they're screaming  
at me  
Cinderella!

The mice sang their parts as well, a little off pitch, but they were being played by kindergartners, 1st, and 2nd graders, so no one noticed it very much.

Once again, Larissa felt much better after the song. She looked out into the audience and saw her parents, Ryan and Gabi, and was surprised, but happy to see Maya (and Alison).

At intermission, everyone felt the need to stretch their legs. Gabi made her way over to Sharpay and Troy, "Are you two sure she's in kindergarten? Her acting and singing is…incredible!" She smiled, "Did you help her with it?"

Sharpay smiled, "No, I didn't help her with any of it; she wouldn't let me."

"Sounds like someone I know," Ryan said jokingly.

Sharpay rolled her eyes, "So how do you like the play, Katie?"

"It's fun," she said with a smile. "I like the mice and the mean stepsisters."

Troy laughed, "Yes, they are quite entertaining aren't they?"

The lights started to flash on and off, signaling that intermission (all 5 minutes of it) was now over and that the rest of the play was about to begin. The curtain opened, this time the set was that of the palace.

When it was Larissa's time to enter through the makeshift doors, she felt her dress get caught on something. She looked down and saw that it was caught on a nail. She panicked and looked at one of the teachers who hurried over to help her. Her confidence was quickly falling.

"You'll do just fine," she heard someone say. She looked behind her and there was Alison.

She smiled, "What are you doing here," Larissa whispered.

"One of the other teachers got sick so I volunteered to help out." She smiled and nodded at Larissa, "Your dress is free."

"Thank you," she said to the other teacher who had gotten the dress off the nail. She walked on stage, her confidence coming back. As she walked on, she could hear several "Awww's" and "Oh isn't she beautiful!" She smiled and continued the scene.

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At the end of the play, everyone applauded and all of the cast members received standing ovations. Then it was time for Larissa to come out to take her bow. As she came on stage, she could hear cheering that only her mother would do. She smiled, mainly at her and the rest of her family and curtseyed, just as she had rehearsed. As the curtain closed, she hugged her cast mates.

Alexis, the 5th grader playing the evil stepmother came over to her, "You did a great job, Larissa! I can't believe how well you sang." She smiled and hugged her.

"Thank you," Larissa said shyly.

"I played Sleeping Beauty in 2nd grade and I remember my dress that I wore at the end…the boy playing Prince Philip stepped on it and tore it a little…I was so embarrassed that I almost didn't finish." She sighed, "But you did so well when your dress got caught…it was like you'd been acting since you were two years old!"

She smiled again, "Thank you." She looked through the curtain, "I guess I should go find my parents."

"Yeah, me too." Alexis said goodnight to her and went on her way. Larissa made her way through the crowds of people and finally found her family. "Hi mommy!"

Sharpay smiled when she saw Larissa, "You did such a wonderful job!" She picked her up and hugged her, "Congratulations, honey."

"You were the best Cinderella that I have ever seen," Troy said.

"Thank you, daddy." She hugged him.

Maya came up to her, "Larissa! You…did really…well," she said with a smile.

"Thank you," she said, hugging her friend. She looked at her legs and gasped, "You have leg braces on BOTH legs now?"

She nodded, "I got feeling in…my other leg…a few days ago," she said with a smile that stretched all the way across her face.

Larissa smiled, "Do you think you'll walk soon?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. Mommy says maybe."

Troy walked over to her, "Sweetie, I'm sorry to do this, but we really should go; it's starting to get really bad outside."

Larissa nodded, "Okay daddy." She looked at Kayleigh who was crying, "What's wrong with her?"

"She's just scared from the storm; you should have seen her face when she saw you though. Mommy had to put her hand over her mouth since she kept on saying your name," he said with a grin.

She smiled again and looked at Zachary who was sound asleep. "Did he sleep the whole time?"

He shook his head, "No, he fell asleep a few minutes ago…we really need to go honey," he said, looking outside.

She nodded, "Okay."

After saying goodbye to Ryan, Gabi, and everyone else, Troy brought the car around (he wasn't about to make everyone walk in the pouring rain) to the front of the school and helped Sharpay get all the kids inside.

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They got home just as the storm seemed to come to a climax. The wind had picked up and it was now hailing. All four kids were hovering around their parents, since the electricity had gone out right after Troy closed the garage door.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, Larissa," Sharpay said as she tried to calm Ana, who was now having a panic attack down.

"What's that weird noise?"

Sharpay listened for a moment and then looked over at Troy, "It can't be…can it," she asked him, stunned.

He nodded, "Yes, it can." He picked Zachary and Kayleigh up, "Get downstairs…now!" He yelled to his family.

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**Ah, such a sweet movie/play. It really is one of my favorites! So what is going on with this storm? Oh and it's rare that this happen in a mountainous region, but it is possible…I'm a weather fanatic.:) Please review and thank you for reading!**


	23. Tornado!

**Thank you for all the reviews! All right, here is the next chapter…**

**A/N: I'm not a meteorologist, but having studied weather for both research papers and for recreational purposes (I love it!); I do know a bit about what I'm writing here. :)**

**Random note: My one tornado experience was when we lived in the northern suburbs of Chicago; I was at work (PETsMART at the time) and saw that the sky turned a green/purple/dark, dark, DARK blue color. Then I saw this funnel cloud just sort of moving across the sky (I was inside and saw this from across the street) and then we heard the loud whistling and the sound of a freight train plus the sirens. Very cool but scary experience! **

**Okay, on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

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_**Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 23**_

_Sharpay listened for a moment and then looked over at Troy, "It can't be…can it," she asked him, stunned._

_He nodded, "Yes, it can." He picked Zachary and Kayleigh up, "Get downstairs…now!" He yelled to his family._

"Mommy what's going on," Larissa, now rather frightened asked.

"We just need to get downstairs," Sharpay said as calmly as possible. "Come on honey."

As they all hurried down to the basement, Troy heard a loud noise that sounded almost like a freight train. He looked around, making sure his family was all downstairs. "Come on, we need to get to the bathroom, since it doesn't have any windows," he said to Sharpay.

She nodded, "All right." She (along with Ana who was still in her arms) followed Troy into the bathroom and looked around. "Troy, where's Larissa?"

His eyes went wide, "I thought she was right behind you!"

She shook her head, "She wasn't…oh no, I have to go get her," Sharpay said. Before Troy could protest and tell her to stay put so he could get Larissa, Sharpay left the bathroom and walked around the basement, "Larissa!"

"Mommy!" Larissa jumped into her mom's arms, "Mommy where did you go," Larissa asked, tears streaming down her face.

Sharpay simply scooped her up and held her, thanking the lord hat she was safe. "Honey I thought you were with daddy, and he thought that you were with me," she said as she carried her towards the bathroom; only they didn't make it that far…before they could reach it, one of the basement windows blew out, causing massive amounts of wind to seep inside. Sharpay did her best to remain standing and protect Larissa, but both tumbled to the ground.

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**Same Time; Evans Home…**

Ryan tried over and over again to open the garage door, but it wouldn't open. "The electricity has to be out," he said as he took the keys out of the ignition and sprinted to the front door to unlock it. Once he did that, he ran back to the car, "All right, let's get inside before…" He could then hear the sirens. He looked at Gabi, whose eyes met his. Without a word to one another, they got the kids out of the car and ran into the house. "You take Michael and Theresa downstairs; I'm going to get Angie," he said.

She nodded, "All right." She knew that she had to be as strong as she could for her kids.

Ryan ran up the stairs and into Angie's room where he saw Kelly, the sitter trying to get her things together. "No, you can't leave," Ryan said. "Get downstairs to Gabi," he told her.

She shook her head, "I need to get home," she said, nearly in tears.

He picked Angie up, along with her blanket and took Kelly's hand and ran downstairs where Gabi and the kids were waiting.

"Oh thank goodness you're safe," Gabi said to both Ryan and Kelly.

Kelly shook her head, "I need to go home," the frightened 16 year old said, now in tears. "My parents are probably worried sick about me!"

"They know where you are and that you would do the right thing by coming down here," Ryan reassured her. "Besides, I think they would rather have you stay here than go out in that weather," he said, gesturing to the gusting wind, thunder, lightening, and pouring rain that was being blown completely horizontal.

She nodded, "O-Okay," she said, wiping her face. She picked Theresa up since Gabi had Michael in her arms and Ryan had Angie.

They walked into the only area of the basement without windows: the large closet. "Everyone all right so far," Ryan asked as he handed Angie to Gabi's waiting arms. She had set Michael down beside her.

"Daddy I'm scared," Theresa said as she hurried over to him.

"It'll be all right," he said as he picked her up. "Come on, let's at least go to the back and sit down; it'll be safer than staying by the door."

They all complied and sat down in the rear of the closet, not knowing what to expect next.

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**Same Time; Cross Home…**

"Katie, it's time to get out of the bathtub," Jason said as he walked into the bathroom and handed her a towel.

"But I'm not done yet, daddy!"

He sighed and did the only thing he could think of: he picked her up and carried her into her room where he put her waiting nightgown on and then carried her to his and Kelsi's room. "Kels, come on, grab Madison," he urged.

Kelsi looked up from the laundry she was folding, "Honey, it's only a thunderstorm," she said. "It's not like we're going to…" She paused, listening to the sound coming from outside. She dropped the piece of clothing she was folding and ran into Madison's room, picked her up, and came back into the hall, "Now what," she asked, somewhat panicked.

"First of all, stay calm," Jason said. Being from Kansas, he knew exactly what was going on. **(A/N: Jason is from Kansas because theferretmenace's review was the last one I read before starting this chapter and she said that she lives in Kansas...little tribute to you there, ferretmenace!)**"Second, we need to get to the basement," he said, still holding Katie.

"Daddy let me go!" Katie somehow managed to get out of her father's arms and ran into her room.

"Damn it," he muttered to himself. He turned to Kelsi, "Get downstairs and go into the bathroom. I'll be down there as soon as I pry Katie from her room," he said, walking over to Katie's door.

Kelsi shook her head, "I'm not going without you!"

"You have to; I'll be down there not two seconds after you get there…now get going!" He ordered.

She nodded, not wanting to prolong Katie from being in danger's way. "Okay," she said softly, hurrying downstairs while carrying a sleeping Madison in her arms.

Jason opened Katie's door, but didn't see Katie. "Come on Katie, we have to get downstairs," he yelled. He looked in her closet, but didn't see her. It was only when he heard crying coming from under her bed that he knew where she was. "Come on sweetie," he said as he pulled her out.

"I'm scared, daddy," she cried as she clung to him as tightly as she could.

"I know, but we're going to go downstairs where it's much safer," he said as he held her in his arms and carried her down to the basement. He hurried into the small bathroom where Kelsi, who was already starting to panic, was. "See, I told you we'd be here two seconds after you," he said, seeing relief pass through her face.

She threw her arms around him and Katie, "Thank goodness you're okay," she said, tears forming in her eyes.

He nodded, "Of course we are…now let's get as far from the door as possible and just wait."

Katie stayed in his lap, her head buried in his shoulder while Kelsi held Madison as tightly as she could without squishing her.

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**20 Minutes Later; Bolton Home…**

As soon as the winds subsided, Troy grabbed the flashlight that was already in the bathroom and told Ana, Kayleigh and Zachary to stay put. He hurried out of the bathroom, "Sharpay, Larissa!" He called.

"T-Troy," Sharpay called back weakly, "Help."

He looked around, trying to find where her voice was coming from, "Sharpay, where are you?"

"Over here," she said, a little stronger now.

He pointed the flashlight in the direction of where her voice was coming from and ran over to her, "Are you all right," he asked as he helped her up.

"I'll be fine," she said, wiping the little bit of blood she had on her bottom lip. She got to her feet, "We have to find Larissa," she said as she started to cry. "One minute she was right under me and the next…" She couldn't say anymore; her crying took over.

Troy wrapped his arms around her, "She's a fighter, she'll be just fine," he said, trying to reassure her. "You go into the bathroom with the kids and I'll look for her," he said, leading her to the bathroom.

"Find her, please!" She then saw her three other children, all of whom were too scared to even cry. "Mommy's here," she said as Zachary's lower lip started to quiver. She sat down with them, placing Zachary on her lap and Kayleigh and Ana on either side of her, while praying that Troy would find a safe Larissa.

"Larissa," Troy called as he walked through the basement, now blanketed with debris. "Larissa where are you!"

"Daddy," a weak voice called out.

He hurried towards the sound of the voice, "Larissa," he called again, fear evident in his voice. "Where are you?"

For a moment there was no answer. Troy was about to call her name again when he saw a dark figure sit up amongst the debris, "Daddy!"

He ran over to her, "Larissa, are you okay?" He held her close to him.

"My arm hurts really bad," she cried.

He nodded and picked her up, thanking the lord that she was safe. "Come on; let's go to your mom."

Sharpay saw the beam of the flashlight hit the bathroom wall, "Troy, is that you?"

"Yeah, we're here," he said, walking into the bathroom with Larissa in his arms.

She gasped, looking up and saying an inaudible 'thank you' when she saw Larissa in Troy's arms. "Sweetie, you're okay!"

"My arm hurts mommy," she said as she coughed from all the debris that was around them.

"You're all right though," Sharpay said, getting up and taking her from Troy's arms.

"Let's go upstairs and see if we can get to the hospital," Troy said.

She nodded, "Okay." She took Ana's hand while Troy once again grabbed Kayleigh and Zachary. They carefully walked upstairs to the main floor of the house. A sigh of relief came over Sharpay when she saw that there was minimal damage; a few windows had been blown out and there were a few small pieces of furniture that had tipped over, but the house was still standing.

Troy walked into the garage and saw that not only were both cars still there, but that the roof was still on it. Knowing that the power was still out, he manually opened one of the doors **(You know how many homes have two garage doors; one for each car? This is what I'm getting at)** and fumbled for the keys which were still in his pocket. He walked over to the driver's side, got in, and started the car, "Thank you," he said to himself. "Shar, let's go," he said as he got out of the car and helped her to get the kids inside.

"Coming," she said as she helped Troy get the kids into the car. They then made their way to the hospital.

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**Evans Home…**

Ryan made his way out of the closet after noticing that the wind had stopped blowing. He looked around and saw that there was not much damage…down there that is. "All right, it's safe," he said after surveying the entire basement.

Gabi, still holding Angie (who was amazingly still sleeping), stepped out and took Ryan's hand, "The house is still here," she said with amazement.

"It is down here anyway," Ryan said, being realistic. He walked back into the closet, "Everyone else okay?"

Kelly, who was carrying Michael, walked out along with Theresa. "I really need to get home," she said shakily.

He nodded, "Of course; we'll help you out," Ryan said as they made their way upstairs. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that hardly anything had been destroyed. The kitchen was a mess, as was the living room but the roof was still over their heads and most of the windows were still there.

They walked outside to see that the car was still there as well. Kelly saw her father, "Dad!" She ran over to him. Even though she only lived two houses down, Ryan wasn't about to let her out in the storm.

Her father embraced her, "I'm so glad you're all right," he said, not letting go of his daughter. He looked at Ryan, "Thank you for not letting her come home…if you know what I mean," he said. "She's stubborn."

"Yes, I noticed that," Ryan said.

"Where's mom," Kelly asked, not seeing her.

"She's inside, making sure your brothers are okay," her father said. "Thanks again," he said to Ryan and Gabi before following his daughter into the house.

Ryan then heard Angie start to cry, "I see someone's awake," he said, walking over to her.

Gabi shook her head, "Ryan something's not right; she's wheezing, can you hear it," she asked, rather worried.

Ryan took the 5 month old in his arms and could hear that her breathing was rather unstable. "We have to get to the hospital," he said as he handed Angie back to Gabi and took his keys from his pocket. "Get into the car," he said, remaining as calm as possible.

Theresa climbed into the car and put her seatbelt on. Gabi reached over her to place Angie into her car seat and buckled her in. "Mommy will Angie be okay," Theresa asked, looking at her sister who was coughing and having a difficult time breathing.

"She'll be fine sweetie," Ryan said when Gabi couldn't seem to find her voice; she was too worried. Ryan put Michael into his car seat and closed the door. He then got into the car himself and put the key in the ignition and turned it but it didn't start. He tried again to start the car, but it still wasn't starting. "Come on," he said to himself, "Just…start!"

"What's wrong with the car," Theresa asked, placing her hand on Angie.

Gabi looked at Ryan, "Yeah, what _is _wrong? Ryan, we need to get to the hospital now!"

"You think I don't know that," he nearly yelled, scaring everyone in the car. He shook his head, "Sorry…just…sorry." He turned his attention back to the car, which was still refusing to start.

"Start you stupid car!" Theresa yelled.

"Honey a car isn't going to start just because you…" The car suddenly roared to life as Ryan tried once more to get it started, "Uh, forget what I just said," Ryan said as he stared at the car for a moment before remembering that they actually had to go somewhere. He backed out of the driveway and drove to the hospital.

* * *

**Cross Home…**

Jason surveyed the damage, which, thankfully was minimal. He poked his head into the bathroom, "Okay, let's go, it's safe now."

As they exited the basement, they looked to see that the rest of the house was still in one piece, except for the roof over the living room which had been torn off. "Daddy what happened," Katie asked, looking up to see the sky through the living room.

"The storm, that's what happened," he said as he picked her up. "Are you okay? I mean, does anything hurt," he asked as he looked to see if Katie had any bumps or bruises on her.

"I'm okay daddy," she said, hugging him.

Kelsi walked over to them…sort of, "Jason, I think…I broke my leg," she said, cringing as she attempted to walk closer to him.

He rushed over to her and took Madison from her arms. "Let's go," he said, looking for his keys. He ran into the kitchen and found Kelsi's keys instead, "Good enough," he said to himself. He walked over to Katie, "Do you think you can carry your sister out to the car?"

Katie nodded and held out her arms, "I can do it, daddy."

Jason smiled softly at her and gently placed Maddy ((her new nickname)) into Katie's arms. "Be careful," he said as he walked over to Kelsi.

"I will," she said, walking over to the garage door.

Jason picked Kelsi up and carried her to the car, even though she protested it. "I'm not letting you walk on that leg," he said adamantly. He helped her into the car and then took Maddy from Katie and placed her into the carrier/car seat. He walked around to the other side and helped Katie with her seatbelt and then got into the car and drove to the hospital.

* * *

**Well, there you have it! Miniature cliffhanger, LOL. So what is wrong with Larissa and Angie? We know what's wrong with Kelsi. Like I said before, I'm not a meteorologist, but after having been a weather fanatic for over 10 years, watching the Weather Channel a lot, and purchasing videos on tornadoes (yes, I'm nuts but they are really cool to look at and study!), I know a little bit, LOL. Please review and thanks for reading! **


	24. A Night at the Hospital

**Thank you for the reviews, everyone! I really appreciate them. I try my best to write stuff that hopefully you all like; I know I like it:)**

**A/N: throughout this chapter, I'm going to be jumping around from family to family, so if you get confused…sorry! I'll try to put either line breaks or some sort of divider between each 'scene.' **

**A/N #2: Something went wrong with my spell checker, so if there are any grammatical or spelling errors, that's why so I apologize in advance!**

**Disclaimer: It's the same thing it always is.**

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_**Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 24**_

Troy pulled up to the ER and was surprised to see that there weren't that many other cars already parked there. He turned to Sharpay, "The storm must not have been as bad as we thought it was."

She nodded, "Yeah, I guess not." She turned to look at Larissa, "How does your arm feel, honey?"

"I can't move it," she said, still cradling it in her other arm.

Sharpay turned to Troy, "I'm going to get out here with Larissa; you go find a parking space and meet us inside."

"Sounds like a plan."

She got out of the car and opened the back door and helped Larissa out of the car, being careful to not hurt her left arm. "Let's go inside, okay?"

"Okay," she replied tearfully as she felt more pain shoot through her arm. "Mommy it hurts!"

Sharpay gently picked her up and carried her inside, "It'll be okay, I promise." She walked to the front desk, "My daughter's arm hurts; I am pretty sure she either broke it or sprained it," Sharpay explained.

The woman nodded, "Please fill out these forms, ma'am." She handed her a clipboard, a pen, and some papers that were attached to the clipboard.

"Thank you," Sharpay said, taking the pen and clipboard in her free hand. She went to the waiting area and sat down, placing Larissa in the chair beside her.

Troy walked in a few minutes later with Kayleigh and Zachary in his arms and Ana by his side. "There she is," he said to Ana. They walked over to Sharpay and Larissa, "What's all this," he asked, looking at the papers.

"Standard hospital stuff," Sharpay said. She looked around for her purse, but then remembered that she had left it at home since they left in such a hurry. "Great, I can't find the insurance card!"

"Don't worry; I have mine with me," he said, taking his card out of his wallet, "Here, I'll finish filling it out." He took the papers from her.

"Thanks." Sharpay looked at Ana who was still shaken up from the storm. "Come here, honey," she said, picking her up and placing her in her lap.

Ana leaned up against Sharpay and looked at Larissa, who was still holding her arm. She decided that she didn't want Larissa to get all the attention, so she leaned over and pressed on Larissa's arm.

Larissa bolted up, "Ana, don't do that!" She grabbed her sister's arm with her good hand and smacked it out of her way.

"Larissa, there was no need for that," Troy said, looking up from the papers.

"But she hurt my arm, daddy," Larissa said, now in tears.

He sighed and looked at Ana, "Come sit over here please," he said firmly.

Ana frowned; she got out of Sharpay's lap and stomped on Larissa's foot while on her way to her dad.

"Ana!" Larissa yelled, cringing from the pain that was now in her foot.

Sharpay looked over at Ana, "Do you want to get yourself into trouble again?" Ana shook her head. "Then I suggest you leave your sister alone, do you hear me?"

She nodded, "Yes." She sat down next to Troy who kept an eye on his mischievous daughter.

* * *

Jason parked the car in front of the ER and walked around to the other side to help Kelsi out, "I still don't know how you did this."

"I tripped on my way up the stairs," she said, leaning up against the car.

He nodded and helped Katie out and then got Madison out of the car, "Katie, do you think you can carry your sister while I help mommy?"

"I think so," she said, taking the carrier from him, "Yes, she's not too heavy," she said once she had the carrier in her arms.

"Thank you honey," Kelsi said as she leaned against Jason who had put his arm around her and slowly helped her inside.

Once inside, Jason led her to the waiting area. "Troy, Sharpay? What are you doing here," he asked, amazed to see them.

Sharpay looked up and saw Kelsi leaning on Jason for support, "Probably the same thing you are," she said as she got up and hugged Jason and then Kelsi. "Are you guys okay?"

Kelsi shrugged as she sat down, "As okay as we're going to be. I think I did something to my leg though," she said as she massaged the area of her leg that was hurting the most.

"Why are you holding your arm, Larissa," Katie asked as she set Madison down between her and Kelsi.

"I hurt it really bad," Larissa said tearfully.

"At least you're safe though," Jason said as he kissed her head. He turned to Kelsi, "I'm going to go sign us in."

"Okay." She looked over at Sharpay, "So how much damage did you guys get?"

She shrugged, "Except for some broken windows and overturned furniture, not much, thankfully; how about you guys?"

"We lost our roof," Katie said.

Troy looked up and over at Kelsi, "You guys got that much damage?"

"We didn't lose the whole roof," she said, eyeing Katie, "There is just a hole over the living room; it's not even the entire room; only a portion," she explained.

"Well like Jason said, at least you're safe," Troy said as he got up and hugged Kelsi and then Katie. He walked to the desk and returned the completed papers.

* * *

**On The Road…**

Ryan drove down the road, which was thankfully mostly clear of debris. There were a few branches from neighboring trees in the middle of the road, but nothing that he couldn't maneuver around. As he drove, he felt the engine seize up for the third time that night. "Not again," he groaned, trying to restart the car.

Gabi looked over at Angie whose breathing, for the moment anyway, had gone back to normal. She then looked at Ryan, "What do you think is wrong?"

He shrugged, "I don't know; this happened once before and it…I know what it is," he said, getting out of the car and opening the hood.

"Mommy, she's sounding weird again," Theresa said as she listened to her sister's breathing become abnormal. She was gasping for air and trying desperately to sit up.

Gabi got out of the car, "Ryan, whatever you're doing, hurry up!" She then opened the back door and got Angie out of the car and held her, "Shh, just relax," she said softly as she walked over to Ryan. "Any luck?"

He nodded, "I think I got it," he said as he closed the hood and got into the car. He turned the key. The car started right away, "Finally," he said to himself. He got out, "Come on, let's go before something else happens," he called out to Gabi.

"Ryan, you have to hurry," Gabi said as she got back into the car with Angie still in her arms. "She's barely breathing!"

Ryan put the car in drive and sped to the hospital, praying that they wouldn't get a ticket and that they would at least make it to ER without another problem.

Once there, he parked the car and got Michael out while Gabi opened the door for Theresa. "Hurry up," she said; noticing that Angie's breathing was only getting worse. Her lips were starting to turn blue. "Angie, you're okay," she said, hurrying inside.

"You go sit down with the kids and I'll get the forms and whatnot," Ryan said as he set Michael down. "Go with mommy, sweetie," he instructed Michael. Theresa, however, didn't move.

"I want to stay here," she said, getting scared again. "What if the storm comes back?"

Ryan picked her up, "We're in a much sturdier building now, honey." He looked over at Gabi, "Go ahead; I'll keep her with me."

She nodded, "Okay." She walked over to the chairs with Michael. "Sit down sweetie," she said gently as she continued to hold Angie in her arms.

Sharpay looked up, "Gabi? Are you all right? What are you doing here," she asked, her voice filled with worry.

"It's Angie," she said, nearly in tears, "She's barely breathing and I have no idea what's wrong with her."

Troy looked up and saw Ryan walk over to them with the forms in one hand and Theresa in the other. "Hey, are you guys all right," Troy asked. "I thought you would have gotten here about…20 minutes ago at least," he said, looking at his watch.

Ryan shook his head, "You don't want to know," he said, clearly very annoyed with what had happened on the way to the hospital. He began filling out the forms.

A doctor then came out to the waiting area, "I'm sorry it has taken us so long to get to all of you, but because of the storm, we've had a problem with some of the rooms; therefore, we will be calling a few families at once to go to a room…I apologize for the inconvenience," he said as he reached for two forms.

"Wait!" Ryan rushed over to the doctor and handed him the third.

"Thank you…Uh, Evans, Bolton and Cross," he said, looking around for the three families.

Shock came over all three families' faces. "Well at least we know each other," Sharpay said as she got up and picked Larissa up.

They followed the doctor to the room. "Okay, so what seems to be wrong with…" He looked at a chart, "…Larissa Bolton?"

"She fell during the storm and I think she did something to her arm," Sharpay said, still holding a scared Larissa in her lap. She then looked over at a very worried Gabi, "I think my daughter can wait; please help my brother and sister-in-law first," she said.

Ryan looked at her and smiled, "Thanks."

"Thank you," Gabi whispered, not trusting her voice.

The doctor nodded, "Okay, what seems to be wrong with Angela?"

"She's not breathing very well; we noticed this after the storm," Ryan answered, noticing that Gabi was too upset to speak.

The doctor examined the infant, "Has your daughter ever been diagnosed with Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV," he asked.

"No," Ryan said slowly, "Why? Does she have that?"

"Well has she ever had a severe cold or cough before," he asked.

Ryan thought for a moment, "About a month ago she had a pretty bad cold with a cough, but it wasn't severe…at least that's what the doctor said." **(A/N: In chatper 19, I mentioned that Angie had had a cold, but was getting over it)**

He nodded, "I see…well judging by what I'm seeing here, I would say that your daughter is suffering from a massive asthma attack," he said as he listened to Angie's breathing. He then called a nurse into the room and had her give Angie a breathing treatment. "This will help open up her airways," he explained. "She probably developed the asthma when she had the cold, but hasn't shown any signs of it until just now," he said to Ryan and Gabi who were on the verge of panicking.

"So…wh-what do we do," Gabi asked, holding on to Ryan's hand.

"I want you to give her a breathing treatment twice a day, every day and then go see your doctor as soon as you can," he said, writing a prescription. "Asthma is not curable, but it is very treatable, and it is possible to get it under control; I would say that she has environmental asthma, which is mainly caused by allergies," he went on to explain. When the treatment was finished, the nurse took the mask off of Angie's face and Gabi and Ryan breathed a sigh of relief; Angie's breathing was back to normal.

"Thank you very much," Gabi said as she picked Angie up to comfort her.

"Thanks," Ryan said, taking the prescription from the doctor.

The doctor nodded, "She seems to be doing much better already," he said as he looked at Angie, who was beginning to fall asleep. He then turned his attention to Larissa, "All right, so what is going on here," he asked Troy and Sharpay.

"Well, we think she did something to her arm; she fell during the storm and it's swelling up," Troy said, "We would have put ice on it, but we rushed out of the house so quickly that we didn't have any time to."

The doctor nodded, "Okay, may I see your arm, Larissa," he asked in a gentle tone.

Larissa slowly let go of her arm and showed it to the doctor, "Don't hurt it," she said, shaking.

"I'll be very careful," he said with a small smile. He examined the arm. "I'm going to need to take an x-ray to know for sure, but from the way her arm looks, I think it may very well be broken; we won't know for sure until the x-ray, however."

"Mommy, please come with me," Larissa pleaded.

Troy looked at Sharpay who was looking rather green, "Uh, how about I go with you, sweetheart? I don't think mommy's feeling very well," he said, looking at her.

Larissa nodded, "Okay."

Troy picked her up and walked with the doctor to get her arm x-rayed.

Ryan looked at Sharpay, "Are you okay? You don't look too good," Ryan said.

She cupped her hand over her mouth and made a mad dash for the bathroom.

"Here, you take Angie; I'm going to see if she's all right," Gabi said, handing Angie to Ryan. She walked into the bathroom, "Sharpay? Are you all right?"

Sharpay flushed the toilet and emerged from the stall, "Yeah, I just have this horrible migraine," she said, rubbing her head.

Gabi looked closely at her, "If I didn't know any better, and this may sound completely insane, but isnt' this what happened to you before you found out that you were pregnant with the twins?"

Sharpay looked at her, "You're right…you are insane," she said. "Gabi, there is no way that I am pregnant. It's impossible," she said.

She shrugged, "That's what you said right before you found out that you were pregnant with the twins, and look what happened," she said matter-of-factly.

She shook her head, "No, I just have a migraine; nothing more, nothing less." She walked out of the bathroom and back into the exam room where everyone except Troy and Larissa were. She took a deep breath and looked over at Ryan, "So why didn't you guys come here sooner?"

"Do you remember that night that you and I were at that gala for dad," he asked, referring to three months ago.

She nodded, "Yes; I also remember your car dying on the way home and sitting there for what seemed like hours while you fiddled with something and eventually fixed it, why?"

"Because that's what happened tonight," he said.

"Oh…oh," she said said, finally getting what he was saying. "That happened again?"

"Three times," he said through gritted teeth.

Jason looked at them, "Do you guys need a ride home?"

Ryan shook his head, "No, I think we're good, but thanks."

Larissa and Troy returned a few mintues later, "He said that he'd have the x-ray ready in about 10 minutes," Troy said, sitting down. "You look awful," he said to his wife.

"Gee, thanks," she said sarcastically.

"Sorry…I didn't mean it that way; it's just you don't look like you're feeling very well," he said, looking at her.

"I have a migraine," she said, looking at Gabi and mouthing, 'don't say anything.'

The doctor soon came back, "The x-ray isn't ready yet, so I'm just going to move on to…Kelsi Cross."

"That's me," Kelsi said, speaking for the first time since they got into the room.

"And what seems to be the problem?"

She pointed to her sore leg, "I tripped coming up the stairs and now it's really sore."

He nodded and rolled up her pant leg and pressed where it hurt. She cringed. "Sorry about that," he said, seeing her reaction. "I'm going to take an x-ray, but I'm pretty sure it's a pulled tendon," he said.

Relief poured over her face, "Thank goodness…what do I do for that?"

"Take a strong Advil; the prescription kind, not the kind you see in the drug store and ice it at least three times a day," he said, writing a prescription. "Now let's get your leg x-rayed."

20 minutes later, he came back with two x-rays. "Okay, here they are: this one is Larissa's and yes, she does have a broken arm and this is Kelsi's; yes, she does have a pulled tendon."

Larissa curled up in Troy's lap and started to cry, "Daddy don't let him hurt me!"

Troy hugged her carefully, "Don't worry, he'll be careful; he has to set it and then put a cast on it…I think," Troy said, remembering when he had broken his wrist a few years ago.

The doctor nodded, "That's exactly what I have to do, but guess what you get to do," he said to Larissa.

She shrugged, "What?"

"You get to pick out the color of your cast."

She perked up a bit, "I do?"

He nodded, "Yes."

* * *

"That was the longest 4 hours of my life," Troy said as everyone headed out to the parking lot. Ryan and Gabi had decided to wait for Larissa's arm to be set and for her to get the cast, as did Jason and Kelsi.

"I couldn't agree more," Gabi said with a yawn.

"Jason what are we going to do about the roof," Kelsi asked as they got to the car.

He stopped in his tracks, "We're going to a hotel tonight," he said after a long pause.

"Sounds like a good idea," Ryan said. "Let's go home, get a few things and then go to a hotel for the night."

Sharpay nodded, "I like that…" She would have gone on, had she not had a sudden wave of nausea. She ran over to the grass, Gabi following close behind. "Don't say it," Sharpay said when she finished.

Gabi simply raised an eyebrow, "Okay, but I'd take a test if I were you," she said as they headed back to the cars.

Sharpay stopped her, "I did…a few days ago."

* * *

**(Ducking from people throwing various objects) Yes, I know, "I hate cliffhangers!" Well don't worry; it's the weekend and I can update sooner than usual. :)So what's wrong with Sharpay? Any takers? ;-) Please review and thanks for reading!**


	25. Happy or Sad?

**Okay so I gave you all a lovely little twist there, didn't I:) Anyway, on with the story…**

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

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_**Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 25**_

_Gabi simply raised an eyebrow, "Okay, but I'd take a test if I were you," she said as they headed back to the cars._

_Sharpay stopped her, "I did…a few days ago."_

Gabi raised her eyebrows, "Seriously? What did it say?"

Sharpay was about to answer her when Troy called her over, "Honey, are you okay?"

She walked over to Troy who was putting Zachary into the car. "Yes, it's the migraine; I can barely think right now."

After he finished putting Zachary into the car, he walked over to her and pulled her aside, "You don't think that you're…"

She shook her head, "No, I don't," she said, lying through her teeth. She wasn't a very good liar.

Troy looked pointedly at her, "Tell me the truth, Sharpay; do you think you could be pregnant?"

"Let's just go home, get a few things packed, and go to a hotel for the night, okay?" She got into the car, leaving Troy just standing there, not knowing what to think.

"Troy, are you okay," Ryan asked, snapping Troy back into reality.

He shook his head, "Uh yeah, I'm fine. Listen I think we're going to go to a hotel too since I really don't feel like cleaning up that mess tonight," he said as he got into the car. "See you later." He looked at Sharpay, "We are going to talk about this later," he said as he started the car and drove home.

She sighed and stared out the window, thinking about the test strip. One line meant that you weren't pregnant, and two lines meant that you were. Her test showed two lines. She looked behind her at the kids, all of whom were asleep, including Larissa who was sporting a purple cast on her left arm. She suddenly felt another wave of nausea. "Troy, pull over."

He looked at her and pulled over to the side of the road and watched as she got out and was sick again. He shut off the car and got out and stood behind her, rubbing her back. "You are, aren't you," he said softly.

She looked up at him, tears in her eyes, "Yeah…Troy what are we going to do? We already have four children; we can't afford to have another one, let alone fit another one in the car."

He wrapped his arms around her, "We'll manage," he said with a small smile. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

She shrugged, "I didn't know what you would think about the idea of my becoming pregnant again; and you remember what Dr. Jacobs said, don't you? My chances of carrying another baby to term are less than 50 percent." She cried softly into his shoulder.

He simply hugged her, "Listen to me," he said, looking at her, "Whatever happens, happens. We will get through this…together."

"Mommy, are we home yet," a sleepy Larissa asked.

Sharpay wiped her eyes, not wanting Larissa to see her like this, "No sweetie, not yet. I just had to talk to daddy for a minute, but we're done now," she said, getting back into the car.

Troy followed suit and got into the car as well and continued to drive home. Once there, they changed Kayleigh and Zachary into their pajamas (and changed their diapers as well) and placed them on the bed in their room so they could keep an eye on them as they packed a few things. Sharpay helped Ana and Larissa pack a few items of clothing into their little overnight bags while Troy went and packed a few things for Kayleigh and Zachary. Once they were finished, Troy carried the luggage down to the car, came back upstairs, and took the sleeping twins in his arms while Sharpay helped Larissa and Ana down to the car.

"Whewe awe we going," Ana asked with a yawn.

"To a hotel, since we still don't have any electricity," Sharpay said as she helped Ana into her seat. They had been using flashlights while packing everything up.

She nodded and looked over at her sister who was crying. "What's wong, Wisa," she asked.

"I'm supposed to be in the play tomorrow night," she said through her tears. "I can't be though; not in this stupid cast."

Troy shook his head, "Honey you'll be just fine; besides I'm pretty sure no one will mind that you have a cast on," he said, trying to cheer her up. It didn't seem to be working, however, as Larissa continued to cry.

Sharpay sighed and got into the car, "She'll be okay tomorrow," she said quietly to Troy as he drove to the hotel.

* * *

"Daddy I thought you said we weren't sleeping here tonight," Theresa said as they pulled up in front of the house.

"We're not," he said, shutting off the car and helping her out, "We're going to a hotel, but we need to pack a few things first."

Gabi helped Michael out of his car seat and then got Angela out of hers. As they walked to the front door, she turned to him, "I need to talk to you about something," she said quietly.

"What is it," he asked as he unlocked the door, took the flashlight that was sitting on the table in the foyer and turned it on.

"I think that Sharpay might be…"

"Pregnant," he finished for her. "Yeah, I think so too." He looked at her stunned face. "Twin intuition, remember?"

She gave him a quirky smile, "Sure…"

After packing enough for a couple of nights, they walked back out to the car and headed for the hotel.

* * *

"How's the leg," Jason asked, pulling into the hotel parking lot.

Kelsi shrugged, "It feels a little better, but it's still pretty sore."

He nodded, "I'm just glad you're okay," he said as he moved in to kiss her. Once they broke apart, Kelsi, who felt confident enough to walk, took Madison while Jason carried a sleeping Katie into the hotel lobby. "I'll get us a room; why don't you sit over there," he suggested.

"All right." She slowly walked over to the chairs in the lobby and set Madison down. She looked over at Jason who was still holding Katie.

"All done," he said 5 minutes later. "We have one room, two beds, and I asked them to bring a crib upstairs, which they will be doing shortly," he said as he set Katie, who had woken up down and picked up the luggage. "Come on, sleepy head," he said to her.

"I'm tired, daddy," she whined.

"We're almost there," he said as they got into the elevator.

* * *

**Three Days Later…**

Larissa was able to perform in the play and once again, even though she had a cast on, she did a superb job. School had been canceled for Monday, on account of the fact that everyone was still a bit shaken up from the storm, so Larissa got an extra day off. Sharpay decided to make an appointment to see Dr. Jacobs at 1:00, which meant leaving the kids with Troy's parents; something they were happy to do, since they had been very worried about them ever since the night of the storm. Right when the power was restored, Troy had called them to let them know that they were all right.

"Thanks for watching them," Troy said as he and Sharpay walked to the door.

"Not a problem," Jack said. "Good luck." He smiled and gave each of them a hug.

As they walked to the car, Sharpay's cell phone rang. "Hello…oh hi Ryan…no, we're fine, how are you guys doing…good, I'm glad that Angie's feeling better…yeah, we're on our way…" She paused and frowned at Troy who simply shrugged, not knowing what she was talking about. "How did you know I had an appointment…I knew I shouldn't have told Gabi anything…she didn't? Then how do you know…oh, right," she said with a smile. "Yeah well we're leaving now so I have to go. Talk to you soon, bye." She hung up and laughed softly, "He already knew I was pregnant."

"He did," Troy asked, looking at her, "How?"

"It's our twin intuition thing."

He nodded, "Right."

The drive to the doctor's office was silent; neither one knew what to think or say to the other.

Once there, Sharpay signed herself in and sat down next to Troy and took his hand, "I'm scared."

"You'll be fine," he said as a nurse came out.

"Sharpay Bolton," she said.

"That's us," Sharpay said as she got up. They followed the nurse to an exam room.

"She'll be right with you," she said as she closed the door.

A few minutes later, Dr. Jacobs walked into the room, "Well hello again," she said with a smile.

"Hi," Sharpay said softly. "So we need to know whether I really am pregnant, how far along I am, and whether or not I can carry this baby to term if I am pregnant," Sharpay said in one breath.

"Okay well how about this," Dr. Jacobs said, "Let's do one thing at a time, okay?"

Troy nodded, "She's just a little…nervous."

"So I noticed." Dr. Jacobs brought the ultrasound machine over to them, "All right Sharpay, I think you remember the drill."

Sharpay nodded and lifted up her shirt so the doctor could do the ultrasound. She flinched as the cold jelly was put on her skin, "I'll never forget how cold that stuff is," she said to Troy as she squeezed his hand.

Dr. Jacobs turned the machine on and looked at the monitor as she performed the test. A small smile came across her face, "Do you see this, right here," she asked, showing the two a small moving object.

Troy smiled, "Yes."

Sharpay squinted so she could see, "Yeah…is that the…baby?"

"It sure is," Dr. Jacobs said. "And it looks as though you're a little over 13 weeks along," she said with a smile.

Sharpay stared at her, "Wait a minute, are you saying that I'm over 3 months pregnant…again?"

She nodded, "It looks that way."

"Hey at least we're consistent, right," Troy said with a smile.

Sharpay rolled her eyes. "Is it healthy," she asked cautiously.

Dr. Jacobs nodded and looked at the screen again, "Yes, the baby is quite healthy, as is the heartbeat."

Sharpay smiled softly, "So will I um…carry to term?"

Her smile faded, "I don't know, Sharpay; I'd say your chances are just like last time; maybe even a little less since you delivered early and got pregnant again not even two years after having the twins." She paused and sighed, "I'd say your chance of carrying to at least 7 months is 50 percent."

Troy took Sharpay's hand when he saw the tears slowly fall down her face. "Hey, we did it last time, didn't we?"

"But our chances were higher," Sharpay said, wiping her eyes.

"Sharpay, you do still have a chance of carrying to term, but I'm putting you on complete bed rest now instead of having something happen like it did last time; and I'm not saying it won't, but I want to be completely honest with you," she said candidly.

She nodded, "I appreciate that," she said as Dr. Jacobs gave her a towel to wipe off the jelly. After doing so, she sat up and put her shirt down. "Thank you," she said softly.

"You're welcome; and this time, I want to see you every month, just to see how you're doing, okay?"

"I'll do anything to keep this baby healthy," Sharpay said.

After Dr. Jacobs left the room, Sharpay fell into Troy's arms, crying tears of joy and fear.

"Hey, we'll get through this," he said softly as he held her.

* * *

**Two Weeks Later…**

Instead of having a large dinner party to let everyone know, Sharpay and Troy called everyone, since the doctor had ordered that she be put on bed rest immediately. Larissa took it well this time that her mom was going to have another baby; but she also said that she wasn't going to share her room with the baby; sharing it with Ana was enough already.

Troy walked into Larissa and Ana's room, "Larissa, your mom and I want to talk to you for a minute, please."

She nodded and got off of her bed and followed Troy into her parent's room. "What's wrong?"

Sharpay smiled, "Nothing's wrong, sweetie; daddy and I just want to tell you something."

"What is it," she asked, afraid that her parents were angry with her.

"Well, you are going to be 6 years old in a couple of weeks," Troy said. "Mom and I have a special present for you that we wanted to tell you about now."

She nodded and smiled, "Okay…"

"You're getting older and we just think that…well, that it's time for you to have your own room," Sharpay said.

Larissa gave her parents a confused look, "But we don't have another bedroom; the only other one is the guestroom," she said. "Besides, I thought that the baby was going to be in there."

Troy nodded, "Yes, we are putting the baby in there, but do you remember the addition we're putting on?"

"That's for the baby, isn't it," she asked, now quite confused.

"Nope, it's going to be for you," Sharpay said with a smile.

Larissa smiled, "Really, for me?" When she saw her parents nod their heads again, she ran over to her dad, hugged him and then carefully hugged her mom. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"You're welcome," Troy said as he kissed her head.

Larissa skipped out of the room and back into her room. She and Ana were both going to have their own rooms.

"She took that well," Troy said with a smile.

"Yeah, I only hope that there will be someone living in the guestroom in 6 months," Sharpay said, rubbing her stomach.

* * *

**I hope you liked it! And there's a miniature cliffhanger…it's kind of for you to decide, so here's a poll; please give me your answer in your review.**

**Choice A: Sharpay carries to term (or close to it) and has a healthy baby.**

**Choice B: She loses the baby.**

**Choice C: She carries to term, but the baby is stillborn (born already dead).**

**Thanks for reading!**


	26. Sadness Ensues

**Wow, you guys did NOT make this easy for me, LOL. But I have come up with something, since my vote has to count too. Also, I have done some research on this recently, so I'm not an expert, but I know more now than I did then. **

**A/N: Oh, and I made a little mistake; Larissa's birthday was not in two weeks, like I had said in the previous chapter; since she and Ana are only 2 years apart, this would be making them 3 years apart…so, her birthday is yet to come!**

**A/N: #2: Get the tissue box out.**

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

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_**Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 26**_

**One Month Later…**

Sharpay was now 4 months pregnant and of course, still on bed rest. She had been having a dull pain in her lower back for the past several days, which had been worrying Troy an awful lot.

"Larissa I need to talk to you, honey," he said, coming into the den where she was doing some writing homework.

She looked up at her dad, "Okay."

He sat down, "Honey I know that mommy and I said that we were going to put an addition on the house for your room, but…"

"You can't," she asked, not at all shocked.

He shook his head, "I'm sorry sweetie, but no, we can't; at least not right now. Because your mom is having some pain I think that would be one of the worst things to do to her right now. I wish we could, but we just can't…I'm sorry."

She took a deep breath, "Okay daddy," she said after a minute. She had really been looking forward to having her own room, but she also wanted her mom to be healthy. She looked at him, "Will mommy be okay?"

Troy didn't know how to answer that question since he didn't know the answer himself. "Yes, she'll be fine; she just needs all of our support these next five months, okay?"

"Okay," she said quietly.

He smiled softly at her, "You really are growing up, you know that? Thank you for understanding sweetie."

She shrugged, "I don't want mommy to be sick," she said softly.

"I know you don't." He kissed her head, "I'll let you get back to your homework now." He walked to the door and just watched her for a minute. Larissa's reading and writing had improved so much over the last few months; her teacher said that if she wanted to, she could move into the 1st grade a little early, since her math skills were up there as well. Yet Troy and Sharpay had decided that it would not be good for her socially to move up a grade, leaving her classmates behind.

She looked up at her dad, "Are you okay daddy," she asked, still seeing him in the doorway.

He smiled, "Yeah, I'm fine honey." He walked out of the room and went to check on Kayleigh and Zachary, both of whom were in the family room watching a movie. "Hey guys, how's the movie?"

Zachary turned around, "The Sea Witch got hew," he said, referring to the movie they were watching: 'The Little Mermaid.'

Kayleigh looked at her dad, "It sad daddy," she said, walking over to him and gesturing for him to pick her up.

He did so, "I'm sure that everything will work out for her in the end," he said to Kayleigh who had tears in her eyes; she had proven to be a rather sensitive little girl.

She nodded and laid her head on his shoulder, "But she sad wight now."

"I know, but…just keep watching." He kissed her head and set her back down next to her brother.

He then walked into Ana's room; she was still asleep; the night before she had woken up with a 103.2 fever, a stuffy nose, and a cough; Troy and Sharpay, having gone through this many times with the other kids, diagnosed Ana with a case of the flu. He pulled the covers over her so she was not cold. He then kissed her forehead and quietly exited the room.

"Troy?"

He walked into his and Sharpay's room, "What is it," he asked, sitting down next to her.

"Can you please get the heating pad for me? My back is sore again," she said as she rubbed it softly.

"Are you sure you don't want to see the doctor," he asked as he found the heating pad, plugged it in, and handed it to her.

She nodded, "I'll be fine honey. I just need some rest," she said, clearly in more pain than she was letting on.

* * *

**Two Days Later…**

"Do you have everything for school," Troy asked Larissa.

She nodded, "Look at my writing first," she said proudly.

He opened her bag and found her writing notebook and opened it, "Larissa this is great," he said with a smile. "You are really doing a great job here."

She smiled, "Thanks daddy."

He was about to put it back when he found a crumpled up piece of paper. "What's this," he asked, taking it out.

"Uh…it's nothing," she said, trying to take it from him.

He held it up and read it, "Honey it says here that since you did so well with the play that your music teacher (at school) wants you to try out for this," he said, pulling the little note off of the actual piece of paper.

"I'm not going to," she said, taking the paper and placing it back into her bag and walking out to the garage.

He sighed, "Kayleigh, let's go," he called into the family room where Kayleigh was watching the Wiggles on Disney.

She and Kayleigh got up and walked over to Troy, "Whewe Zachy," Kayleigh asked.

"Right behind you," Troy answered, causing Kayleigh to jump when Zachary touched her shoulder.

He giggled, "I scawe you."

She frowned, "Not funny!" She pushed him down and stomped away…or tried to anyway.

Troy stopped her, "Hey do not push your brother down, Kayleigh." He then looked at Zachary, "And you, you may not scare your sister like that," he said firmly to both of them.

"Okay," they said in unison as they walked out to the car where Larissa was waiting. Ana was still sick, so she was staying home. Since Sharpay couldn't really take care of her, Troy said he was going to take the next couple of days off work to be with Ana so Sharpay wouldn't have to do any extra work.

As he pulled up to Larissa's school, he walked around to the other side to unbuckle her, "Honey, are you sure about that play? It looks like it could be a lot of fun."

She shook her head, "I don't want to do it," she said, getting out of the car and walking into the school.

Before she got a chance to, Troy stopped her, "Why not?"

She shrugged, "I just don't," she said, getting out of his grasp and running inside.

Troy sighed, "Come on Larissa," he said to himself before driving to the preschool to drop off Kayleigh and Zachary.

* * *

"I'm home," Troy called once he put his things away.

Ana came running down the stairs, "Mommy doesn't feel good, daddy," she said, clearly upset.

Troy picked her up and headed upstairs, getting faster and faster as he walked towards their bedroom. "Sharpay, what's wrong," he asked, seeing his wife keeling over in pain.

"It…hurts," she barely got out.

Troy looked at Ana, "Honey, why don't you go into your room for now?" She nodded and did as she was told while Troy hurried over to the bed and pulled the covers off of Sharpay. "Oh my…" He looked away for a moment, not wanting her to see his face.

She nodded, "I already…know," she said. "Troy my stomach…I can barely breathe," she said, clearly in more pain than she had ever been in.

"Come on, we're going to the hospital," he said, helping her out of bed.

"Ana," she said. "What about Ana?"

"She'll come with us and then I'll call my parents or something…someone will pick her up, okay? Don't worry about that right now." He ran into Ana's room, got her dressed in 5 minutes flat, and ordered her to go downstairs. He then ran back into his room where Sharpay was now sitting on the floor in agony.

"Come on, you can do it," he said, helping her up.

"It hurts," she said so softly that he could barely hear her.

He then decided to simply carry her down to the car. He put her into the front and Ana into her car seat and drove as quickly as he could to the hospital. Once there, he took Ana out and told her to stay put and then carried Sharpay, who was now crying from the pain into the ER. "You need to help us…now!" He yelled at the woman behind the desk.

She nodded and called for an orderly to get a gurney to place Sharpay on and bring her to one of the rooms.

As she did this, Troy called Dr. Jacobs who said she'd be there in 5 minutes and then he called his parents to pick up Ana. They said they'd be there as soon as they could.

Sharpay was taken to one of the exam rooms. At the same time, Dr. Jacobs hurried down to the ER, "Where is she?"

"Exam room 6," the woman said.

"Thank you." Dr. Jacobs looked at Troy and then down at Ana, "Is someone…"

Before she could finish, Troy's mother came bursting into the hospital, "What happened," she asked, picking Ana up and then hugging Troy. When Dr. Jacobs saw this, she hurried into Sharpay's room.

"We don't know, but I need…I need to…" He pointed to the room.

She nodded, "Go."

He hurried into the room Sharpay was in. Dr. Jacobs had been examining her, careful to not hurt her. After doing an ultrasound, Dr. Jacobs slowly turned the monitor off and wiped the jelly off of Sharpay. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

Sharpay's crying turned from tears of agony to tears of sadness, "What? No!" She buried her head in Troy's shirt.

Troy tried to be brave, but felt a few tears of his own fall down his face. "How…how did this happen," he asked.

Dr. Jacobs sighed, "Well since Sharpay has had two miscarriages before, her chances of having another baby were rather slim; having the twins was an absolute miracle, but her body just wasn't strong enough to keep this baby. She had basically gone into labor when you brought her in." She put a hand on Sharpay's shoulder, "I'm sorry Sharpay."

Sharpay's cries subsided as she caught her breath, "Did the baby suffer?"

She shook her head, "From what I saw on the screen, it seems as though the baby died when you started having the back pain; so no, he didn't suffer."

"Wait, did you say 'he?'" Troy asked.

"Yes; had Sharpay's body allowed her to carry to term, you two would have had another son," she said with a sad smile.

"Can…can we see him," Troy asked, carefully.

Dr. Jacobs looked at Sharpay who simply nodded. "Okay, but I must warn you that since not every organ was developed…"

"I don't care," Sharpay said; this was still our son," she said.

The doctor nodded, "All right." She took the incredibly small baby and placed it in a blanket. "This is actually good closure," she said as she handed the tiny baby to them.

Sharpay held the baby in her arms. Even though he wasn't any larger than a fist, she and Troy still loved him. "I'm sorry that you're never going to meet us," she said sadly to the baby in her arms. "We miss you already."

"Did you two have a name picked out, by any chance," Dr. Jacobs asked.

Troy shook his head, "No, we hadn't gotten that far yet," he said, wiping a tear from his face. He just looked at the baby in Sharpay's arms.

* * *

Sharpay had to stay in the hospital for a few days, just to let her body heal from miscarriage. This one had been worse than the others. Troy called their family and friends to let them know what happened. They came to visit and told Sharpay and Troy how sorry they were and that if they needed anything to just call.

Ana was told that her baby brother went to heaven early and that he was in peace. Kayleigh and Zachary didn't understand what had happened; all they knew was that their mommy and daddy were very sad.

Larissa, however, knew exactly what had happened and was afraid to go see her mom. Troy walked over to her, "Why don't you go into the room now honey," he said as he walked into the hall where Larissa and Troy's parents were.

She shook her head, "I can't. It's my fault that they baby died," she said, tears coming down her face.

Troy picked her up, "What are you talking about?"

"That night of the storm…I should have followed you into the bathroom but mommy had to come looking for me…" She sobbed into his shoulder.

He brought her into the room. Sharpay looked up, "Larissa? Honey what's wrong?"

Larissa looked at her mom and simply cried harder, "I'm sorry mommy! I'm so sorry," she cried.

"For what," Sharpay asked, stroking Larissa's hair.

"I made the baby die," she said quietly.

Sharpay motioned for Troy to set her down on the bed. She sat up and held Larissa close, "What do you mean?"

"When you were looking for me…during the storm…I should have followed you…" She once again started to sob.

Sharpay wrapped her arms around her, "This is not your fault honey. I promise you, this is not your fault; it's not either of your sisters' faults, nor is it your brother's fault. This just happened," Sharpay said as tears came down her face. The last thing she wanted was for her 5 year old to think that she caused her sibling's death.

Larissa simply cried into her mom's lap. "I'm sorry mommy," she said softly.

Troy rubbed Larissa's back, not knowing what to say or do.

* * *

**Yes, I know you all want to kill me now…I had to put some sort of drama in though; I didn't want this to be cheesy. So how do you think Larissa will do after Sharpay gets home? What about that play that Troy found out about? I have another poll for you and please let me know in your review what you want me to do: **

**Should I: A.) End the story soon**

** B.) Keep going (if I do, I would love to hear your ideas)**

**I don't want to do a sequel yet, hence the reason I didn't put that for a choice. If you have ideas for this story, please let me know! Thank you for reading.**


	27. The Perfect Medicine

**I must say, I am truly amazed that you guys liked that. I thought you were going to hate it! My reasoning behind it is that they already have 4 children and it really is a known fact that if you have had one or two miscarriages already (and I had written in "The Additions" that Sharpay had two of them), that it is VERY likely to suffer from another one; the twins were a miracle basically. But even then, your body many times cannot handle another baby, so I just wanted to be as realistic as possible, even though it's fiction! **

**A/N #2: Thank you for the reviews and for telling me to go on. It really means a lot to me!**

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_Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 27_

**Five Days Later…**

Sharpay was finally released from the hospital five days after her miscarriage. She was healing very well physically, but emotionally she was still hurting so her doctor had her see a social worker who worked in this field on cases such as these. During her stay in the hospital, Sharpay met with the social worker and slowly started to feel better, especially when she was constantly reminded of the fact that she had four children at home who loved her and needed her.

Troy walked into the room and saw Sharpay with Denise, her social worker. Sharpay looked up and saw him and smiled softly, "Come on in," she said, holding out her arm.

He walked into the room and took her hand and sat next to her. "How are you doing today?"

She shrugged, "Better than yesterday," she said with a sigh. She looked at Denise, "Thanks again for everything."

Denise nodded, "It was my pleasure, and remember if you need anything else, just give me a call." She glanced over at Troy, "You are very lucky to have such a wonderful husband."

Sharpay smiled, "Yes, I am." Denise said her goodbyes to the two and left the room so Sharpay and Troy could pack up her things and leave. "So how are the kids doing?"

"Ana's fine; she misses you a lot, but when I told her that you were coming home today, she started doing this happy dance," he said with a smile. "Kayleigh and Zach are doing pretty well, but they also miss you a lot. They just want their mom to come home."

"Um, you left out Larissa," Sharpay said worriedly. Ever since Larissa had found out what happened, she had been blaming herself.

"She's uh…she's okay," he said solemnly. "She's having a hard time, but with you coming home I think she'll do a lot better." He gave her a reassuring smile.

She nodded, "I hope you're right, Troy. I don't want her to blame herself for this."

"Neither do I," he said as he helped her off the bed and into the wheelchair that the orderly who was standing by the door brought in.

They walked out to the car, got in, and drove home. Once there, Troy helped Sharpay out of the car, even though she could walk just fine. He unlocked the front door and looked at Sharpay who was smiling. "Who brought these over," she asked, looking at the beautiful lilies and safflowers that were in a glass vase.

"Well, Ryan and Gabi brought those over and Jason and Kelsi brought these," he said, pointing to the violets in another vase.

She smiled as she looked at both sets of flowers, "They're beautiful."

Ana, upon hearing the door open, looked from the top of the stairs down to the foyer and smiled, "Mommy!" She ran downstairs and clung to Sharpay.

"Hello sweetie," Sharpay said, kneeling down to hug Ana. Since she was still sore, she didn't want to risk picking any of the kids up; her doctor had ordered her not to for at least another week or so. "Were you a good girl for grandma and grandpa?"

She nodded, "They awe in thewe," she said, pointing to the family room.

Sharpay took Ana's hand and walked into the family room and saw Troy's parents with Kayleigh and Zachary, watching a movie. "Hi guys," Sharpay said in an upbeat tone.

Cindy turned around, "Sharpay! How are you feeling sweetie," she asked as she hugged her daughter-in-law.

"Much better; I have my good days and my not so good days," she said softly.

Jack walked over to her, "I'm glad you're all right…you gave us quite a scare," he said as he hugged her.

"I know…and thank you." She smiled when she saw the twins, who both got up and ran to her, each hugging a leg. "Well hello to you too," she said, kissing both of their heads.

"Mommy back now," Kayleigh asked.

She nodded, "Yes, I'm home for good now." She looked at Zachary who was just smiling at his mom. "I missed you both so much." She hugged them once more before standing up. She turned to Cindy and Jack, "Where is Larissa? I thought that she would be down here."

Cindy shook her head, "She's in her room; we tried to get her to come out, but she said that she wanted to be alone…we were thinking that since you're home now, that you could talk to her," she said sadly.

"We've tried everything," Jack said as he shook his head. "She keeps on saying that this is her fault."

Sharpay nodded, "Well I'm going to go up there then," she said, handing her coat to Troy. She hugged Ana once more before heading up the stairs to Larissa and Ana's room.

Larissa was lying down on her bed, staring at the piece of paper that contained information about the community theatre's play that they were going to put on. She heard a knock at the door. "Come in," she said quietly.

Sharpay walked into the room, "Hi honey." She made her way over to the bed.

Larissa sat up and looked down at the floor, afraid to hug her mom. "Hi," she said softly.

"What's wrong, sweetheart," Sharpay asked as she sat down.

"Me, that's what's wrong. I made you lose the baby."

Sharpay pulled her in tightly and wrapped her arms around her, "No honey, you didn't. It happened because of medical reasons…you probably wouldn't understand, but what you need to understand is that you didn't do anything to make me lose the baby; it was just my body saying that I couldn't handle it, it had nothing to do with you." She continued to hold Larissa close and soon began to feel her small body start to shake.

Larissa tried her best to hold back her tears, but they came anyway. She looked up at her mom, "You really don't blame me for what happened," she asked through her tears.

She shook her head, "No, I don't blame you at all." She hugged her again and kissed her head.

Larissa made her way out of Sharpay's grasp, "I don't believe you," she said, starting to cry harder. She ran from her room and into the guest room where she closed the door behind her.

Sharpay sighed and saw the piece of paper that was lying on the floor. She picked it up and read it. A small smile appeared on her face, "I know exactly how to change your mind, Larissa Bolton." She got up and walked into the guest room. "Okay, enough with the pity fest," she said firmly.

Larissa looked up, shocked that her mom was being so firm all of a sudden. "Huh?"

"I said that what you're doing to yourself is not healthy, and therefore you need to stop it right now," she said, sitting down next to her. She stopped Larissa from leaving the room. "And what is this?" She showed her the paper.

Larissa shrugged, "Nothing."

"Uh huh, sure. I think that you need to try out for this; it may make you feel a lot better," Sharpay said, handing her the paper.

She shook her head, "No it won't. It's just a stupid play."

"Hey, I happened to be in several 'stupid' plays and I loved it! You're really talented, Larissa; and stop blaming yourself for what happened because you're not to blame."

She stood up, "Yes I am!" She tore up the paper and ran back to her room and slammed the door, leaving a shocked Sharpay.

Troy walked upstairs, "What was that?"

She shook her head, "I tried to get through to her and she won't let it go; she is insisting that it is her fault," she said with a sigh. "What are we going to do with her?"

He got up, "I'll talk to her; this is getting ridiculous," he said, starting to get aggravated. He walked into Larissa's room and closed the door behind him. "Never yell at your mom, do you understand?"

She looked up at him, tears in her eyes, "But I…"

"No, you didn't cause anything to happen, but you probably just hurt her feelings by throwing that paper in her face. She wants you to be happy, Larissa and all you're doing is blaming yourself for something that could not be stopped." He sat down next to her.

"I can't do that play, daddy. It'll remind me of that night…"

He suddenly realized what she was getting at. "Hold that thought." He went into the guest room where Sharpay was still trying to put together what had just happened. "Come with me," he said, leading her to Larissa's room. Once there, he sat her down alongside Larissa. "Okay, tell your mom what you just told me," Troy said gently.

She took a deep breath, "I can't do the play, mommy…it'll just remind me of that night when…the storm…we fell…" Fresh tears gathered in her eyes as she cried into her pillow.

Sharpay nodded, understanding why Larissa was so upset, "So you are afraid that if you do this play that something else like this will happen, is that right?"

She nodded, her head still buried in her pillow.

"Can I tell you something, Larissa?" Sharpay pulled her up and sat her on her lap. "Having you tryout for this play would make me feel so good," she said.

Larissa looked up and wiped her eyes, "It would?"

She nodded, "Yes, even if you still blame yourself, you're making me sad by not doing what I know you really want to do." She showed her the paper that was still in two pieces. "So what do you think?"

She shrugged, "Would you come with me," she asked after a moment.

"Of course I would," she said with a smile. "Honey nothing would make me happier than to see you doing what you love to do." She looked at Troy, who nodded. This was just the kind of therapy Larissa needed.

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**Short? Yes. But I wanted to do an 'aftermath' chapter if you know what I mean. So any suggestions for what the play is? I had an idea, but then remembered that kids usually don't get leading (or even supporting) roles, especially if it's a community theatre play. So please, if you have an idea for a play (preferably a musical since Larissa is a talented singer), either send it in your review or PM me with it. Thanks! And of course, thank you for reading!**


	28. The End

**Thanks for all the reviews guys! They are wonderful. I have a musical for Larissa to try out for, thank you to nneessssaa for the idea!**

**Disclaimer: Same as always and I also don't own the musical "Annie" by Thomas Meehan (writing credits) and Charles Strouse (composer). **

**A/N #2: This is the last chapter; I'm sorry, but I seriously cannot think of anything else to write for this story! I'm thinking about writing a sequel though. If I do, however, I will need ideas for it because I cannot come up with anything! So please either PM me or just send it in your review if you have an idea (and title, LOL) and I promise I will mention you in the A/N:)**

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_**Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 28**_

Larissa finally decided to tryout for the play that the community theatre was putting on. She knew it would make her mom happy to see her doing something she loved. She walked into the auditorium with Sharpay with her. She listened to the little girl on stage who was singing "Maybe" from the play, _Annie_ which was going to be performed.

"I'll never get this," Larissa said quietly to her mom.

"Never say never," Sharpay said as she and Larissa walked further in where they saw a sign-in sheet. Sharpay signed Larissa in and the two sat down and waited.

After 20 minutes of listening to other people audition for various roles, a woman walked up on the stage holding the sheet. "Larissa Bolton," she called.

Sharpay's jaw nearly dropped when she saw the woman who was on the stage. "It can't be," she said aloud to herself.

"It can't be who," Larissa asked nervously.

She shook her head, "Never mind honey, I think I have someone mixed up with someone else," she said, shaking her head. "Go on ahead."

"Larissa Bolton," she called again. She saw the little girl walk up on stage. "You must be on time my dear; after all, the theatre waits for no one," the woman said.

Sharpay now knew for a fact who this was, "Oh my gosh, Ms. Darbus!"

The woman looked over at her, "Yes, may I help…Sharpay? Sharpay Evans, is that you," she asked, motioning for her to come up on the stage.

Sharpay did so, "Yes, it is," she said, greeting her old drama teacher from several years ago.

"My goodness, how have you been," she asked with a smile. "And is this your daughter?"

"I've been great; Troy and I are married and yes, this is my daughter, Larissa," she said as she set her hand on Larissa's shoulder.

"Troy Bolton," she asked, surprised. "You married the hockey boy?"

"Actually he played basketball, and yes; I did. We have four kids and one of them would like to tryout for _Annie_ now," she said, wanting Larissa to get this over with. She could see her daughter getting more nervous by the second.

Ms. Darbus nodded, "Of course. Come forward, dear and stand right there," she instructed Larissa. Larissa did as she was told and stood where Ms. Darbus told her to stand. "Very nice; now what song are you going to sing," she asked, sitting back down, Sharpay a few seats down from her.

"Um, I'm going to sing 'Tomorrow'," she said softly.

"All right, and I am assuming you are trying out for the lead," she asked, glancing over at Sharpay.

"Yes, I would like to tryout for the lead role, Annie," Larissa said.

Ms. Darbus wrote something down, "All right, go ahead."

Larissa took a deep breath and began to sing the song.

_The sun'll come out  
Tomorrow  
Bet your bottom dollar  
That tomorrow  
There'll be sun! _

Just thinkin' about  
Tomorrow  
Clears away the cobwebs,  
And the sorrow  
'Til there's none!

When I'm stuck a day  
That's gray,  
And lonely,  
I just stick out my chin  
And Grin,  
And Say,  
Oh!

The sun'll come out  
Tomorrow  
So ya gotta hang on  
'Til tomorrow  
Come what may  
Tomorrow! Tomorrow!  
I love ya Tomorrow!  
You're always  
A day  
A way!

By the time she finished, there was a large smile on Sharpay's face. She hugged her daughter as she came off the stage, "You did a great job," Sharpay said with a smile.

"Did I make you happy, mommy," she asked, referring to what Sharpay had said a few days ago.

"You made me very happy sweetie. Even if you don't get the lead role, you did a wonderful job." Sharpay hugged her daughter tightly.

"Thank you very much, Miss Bolton," Ms. Darbus said with a smile. "I see you take after your mother."

Larissa smiled, "I take after my mommy _and_ my daddy," she said proudly. Troy had told her about his singing days when he was in high school and how much he loved it.

Sharpay kissed her head, "That you do." She glanced over at Ms. Darbus, "Thank you for allowing her to tryout," she said as she stood up.

* * *

"Mommy!" Larissa called, running through the house and into the living room, "Mommy look! It says that I can come back and sing another song!"

Sharpay, who was sitting next to Troy, smiled. "I'm so proud of you," she said, giving Larissa a hug.

* * *

_**Epilogue…**_

Larissa ended up winning the role of Annie. Troy had an interesting reunion with Ms. Darbus, as did all of the others who came to the show.

Ana continued her therapy with Dr. Sanford and began to speak clearly as the months went by. She was doing better than anyone had ever imagined she would do.

Kayleigh and Zachary turned out to be quite similar to one another. Troy noticed that the two loved to play catch, so he decided to see how they would do with a basketball. On their 3rd birthday, Zachary made his first basket ever; with a little help from Troy of course. Kayleigh started to act just like Larissa and started singing to the songs of the movies she watched. Sharpay knew that when she started school, there would be a stage with her on it.

Sharpay and Troy didn't have any more children, but they decided that they had all the family that they needed right there with them.

_It's hard to believe  
That I couldn't see  
You were always there beside me _

Thought I was alone  
With no one to hold

But you were always there beside me  
This feeling's like no other  
I want you to know  
I've never had someone that knows me like you do  
The way you do  
I've never had someone as good for me as you  
No one like you  
So lonely before I finally found  
What I've been looking for

_**The End**_

* * *

**I'd like to thank you all for reading this series! And maybe, just maybe there's a sequel coming, but I don't have any ideas for one right now. Thanks to all who read and reviewed and gave such wonderful suggestions and ideas. **

**Fin!**


	29. NEW STORY TRAILOR sort of

Okay, before you think I'm adding another chapter to this story, I'm not--I'm only putting this here so I can tell you all that I'm writing a sequel (not Growing Up) called "Just Like Us." It's set only 3 years in the future, and here's a glimpse of the story:

Larissa is still very much into acting, and so is one of her siblings, but which one? Hint: It' s not Zachary.

Zachary, now 5, is starting to take after Troy and has a knack for basketball. Will he pursue it?

Will Larissa continue to take acting lessons and become just like her mom (sans the attitude)?

Find to to see if the Bolton kids are going to be just like Troy and Sharpay in "Just Like Us."

Coming to this site soon (possibly this evening, maybe tomorrow)!

-Lisa-


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